LUKBAN
suspended but people in the pueblos should exert efforts “ to expel the enemy as has been heretofore been done .”
But he always reminded people to continue planting food crops , like palay , corn , gabi , sweet potatoes and other tubers , stressing on a variety of palay that could be harvested in 100 days , so that in case of war , which will suspend traffic for an indefinite period , they will have no reason to complain because they will have something to eat . He urged the junta popular ( municipal council ) of any pueblo to try any person for laziness and report this to government . 4
Land reform
Still consistent with his program to promote food production and self-reliance , Lukban required the persons in-charge of revenues in each pueblo to make a list of all those working on their lands and to report this to the revolutionary government , countersigned by the local chief . As for those not engaged in warfare and were likewise not involved in agriculture , they were told to look for flat parcels of land in the public forests so these could be cultivated and planted with palay . These they could possess as their own , he said .
“ Those who may have worked and ploughed these lands shall be considered as owners thereof and no one can disturb their ownership or possession , which shall be applied for to this government through the respective juntas of each pueblo by the same parties concerned who may have done the ploughing , in order that they may be given provisional title pending the supreme decision ,” Lukban stated in his decree , in what may have been the first attempt at land reform in the country . He ordered the local chiefs to strictly comply with his decree , requiring them to submit the names of the persons who complied with his order . 5
The continuing economic blockade in both Leyte and Samar caused a sharp decline in trading , affecting the revenues of the government . As a result , Lukban could no longer remit funds to Aguinaldo as he had to use whatever collection they had for the soldiers . The prices of basic commodities also increased . Besides the two-year old blockade , Samar was invaded by a locust plague and typhoons . Money had become generally scarce , so were other resources . Lukban had to devise other means to be able to collect something for his revolutionary army . In one decree , he authorized all the pueblos to open their cockpits , charging an entrance fee of P0.50 and 10 percent additional collection on all debts . These collections were to defray the expenses of war . 6
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