The author ’ s interest in writing historical accounts came rather late - after he was tasked with writing the 50-year history of his alma mater . Only then did he take to it like fish to water . To him , the past is like a large jigsaw puzzle where events and the persons involved had to be assembled until they made sense , until one saw their logic . In 1998 during the centennial of the Philippine Independence , he wrote a series of articles in The Freeman , a Cebu daily , about the struggle of Cebuanos against the Spanish colonial forces . This was entitled Leon Kilat and Cebu ’ s Revolution .
In 1999 , The Freeman was awarded “ Best in Historical and Cultural Reporting ” by the prestigious Philippine Press Institute and the Frederick Ebert Stiftung because of that series .
On April 3 , this year , it was published by the Tres de Abril General Services and the Palm Grass Hotel in Cebu .
A second book on history , entitled Heroes , Brigands , Spies was launched in mid-June , this year . This is about the guerrillas in Leyte and their deadly internal wars during the Japanese occupation of the island in the 1940s .
Lukban is his third book published so far . This is probably the most comprehensive account of the Philippine-American war in Samar island .