LUKBAN
re-organized the towns into concentration camps where the movement of the residents became closely monitored and restricted . It became impossible for the insurgents to draw support from ordinary farmers who could barely produce enough for their own families ’ sustenance . The waters where the forces of Lukban were swimming became increasingly shallow , that they were forced to retreat farther into the forests where food was not available , where even non-combatants were easy targets of American patrols .
It would thus be a mistake to put the blame on the illustrados for Lukban ’ s defeat . Under the situation , there was no way Lukban could have won in his enterprise . He himself did not believe he could do it , given the enemy ’ s military and technical superiority . But he hoped to delay the fight so that American public opinion could be swayed in favour of the call for Philippine independence and an end to American militarist intervention . However , that too did not happen even when a new American president was elected .
To my mind , the greatest act of Lukban was his stubborn refusal to surrender despite the adverse conditions . His subsequent call to his remaining forces to give up after his capture was an act to save further loss of lives in Samar because to continue fighting would only increase casualties in both guerrilla and civilian lives . The American General Jacob Smith had promised to turn Samar into a “ howling wilderness ” where even children above 10 years old were not spared . The slogan had become a sordid reality in the months after Balangiga . To stop the massive depopulation measures of the mad general , the insurgents had to surrender . I think it was the most honourable thing to do under the circumstances .
More than 40 years later when the country finally gained its political independence , Lukban ’ s guerrilla war was largely forgotten . Only memories of Balangiga , Catubig and a few other victorious encounters remained in the aging minds of survivors and their descendants . Vicente Rilles Lukban and his men had become mere footnotes of historical accounts known only to a few students of history . #
Endnotes 1 http :// museobulawan . com / Vicente % 20Lukban % 202 . html 2 Lt . Alphonse Strebler arrived for duty at Fort Hunt in May 1903 , just a few months before Captain Curtis took command . Strebler ’ s brief tenure at Fort Hunt was unexceptional , until an enlisted man fingered him for embezzlement and fraud . In an affidavit sworn in Fairfax County Court , Pvt . Thomas Bradley claimed that in July 1904 , Strebler had called him into his office and asked him to falsely endorse a government check made out to an Alexandria contractor who had recently painted 157