LUKBAN TO COMPATRIOTS OF SAMAR, FEBRUARY 1, 1901
Exhibit 1342.
[Original in Spanish. Contemporary copy. P.I. R ., 824 1.]
FEBRUARY 1, 1901.
Compatriots of Samar:
On the 11th of the present month, my birthday, I contracted marriage with Srta. Paciencia Gonzales, native of Catbalogan, which is my
second marriage, before the principales of the province, and numerous
chiefs and officials who came to entertain me in these mountains. In
announcing to you my marriage, my object is to show to the province
one more proof of my true and affectionate love for this province which
I must never abandon to slavery in the clutches of the American Eagle.
while there remains to be the breath of life; the supreme government
having seen fit to entrust the province to me, I have sworn before our
holy flag to defend it until death, the sincerity of which oath I have
already shown more than once, and I continue to show as you see;
and, thanks to your aid, union, constancy and abnegation you have
followed well on our task; and since your most worthy fellow citizens
of Samar and relatives, and my connections by marriage have been
constant until now, I have had the pleasure of giving you a complete
proof that here in Samar I must shed my blood and give my life with
yours in the defense of our just and holy cause; but I hope that the
constancy you have shown me until now may be more ardent, and that
you will accompany me to the tomb if it should be necessary for our
adored country who to.day more than ever requires our efforts in order
to free her from slavery. Be alert and ready, and recollect that should
your lot in the conflict be adverse, it is better to die with honor than
to live dishonored. That is what your general says to you.
V. LUKBAN.
The following will be killed:
1st. Soldiers and citizens (noncombatants), whatever their nationality,
who go out from our camps with the purpose of going to the
enemy to giye him information of the state of our forces and details
of the ground our army occupies.
2nd. Likewise those who, being in the enemy's camp, go outside of
it to the pueblos, visitas or barrios of the province to purchase edibles
and sell them to the enemy; or, on the other hand, to acquire
information of our forces in order to make it known to them, being in
appearance neutrals, but who in reality, for their own individual interests,
favor the enemy to the detriment of the country.
3rd. Those who, being in our camp, shall hold or maintain correspondence
with any suspicious persons in the camp of the enemy.
4th. The Filipinos who, finding themselves in our camp, pass to
the enemy without previous permission from this government.
5th. The following will be protected by this government: All
Filipinos and all inhabitants of this province who comply with the obligations
that the country requires.
6th. Repeating my former orders, every foreigner who remains
neutral will be protected, and the chiefs and the officials who operate
in this province of my command and the local Presidentes of tlle same
will proceed to capture spies of the enemy, evil-doers, and people of
bad lives, forwarding them by my authority for their execution in accordance
with law, and watching constantly for the exact fulfillment of
the present order.
Make a note of this in the colonel's headquarters
in order that it may be known by all the chiefs and officers of operations
and send it to all the pueblos of the province for general information
and exact compliance.
Done in the headquarters at Matuguinao, February
1, 1901. Vicente Lukban, Politico-Military Governor.
Note has been
taken of this in the colonel's headquarters under No. 54. The Colonel,
Claro Guevara.
The end.