LUKBAN TO LOCAL PRESIDENTES OF SAMAR, FEBRUARY 4, 1900

Exhibit 1323.

[Original in Spanish. Contemporary copy. P.I.R., 1241.9.]

FEBRUARY 4, 1900.

To the Local Presidentes of this Province of Samar:

A few minutes after half past ten a.m. on the 21st ultimo firing broke out against the invading enemy, and by this act we made patent

to the whole world by two days of conflict that we never accepted-myself especially - American sovereignty.

The day succeeding the fight we had to retreat on account of our soldiers being exhausted by hunger, having to seek subsistence from hamlet to hamlet and from town to town. I beg to advise you that, thanks to the Lord of Hosts, we have met with no casualties, with the exception of one artilleryman who died from the bursting of one of our cannon, and a lieutenant of artillery from heart failure on ascending a mountain, Lieutenant Guillermo Artacho and a corporal being slightly wounded. In regard to our enemies, our opinion is that they had more than 800 killed, which is confirmed by the inhabitants of the towns of Catbalogan, Gandara, Calbayog and Natividad (San Policarpo).

Beloved people, our soldiers at present are divided into small bands by force of hunger, and I have ordered them not to give battle to the enemy, in spite of their eagerness, until sufficient provisions are collected; but this should not dishearten you; we have sufficient resources, as our mountains are filled with good edible roots, capable of supporting combatants for many years of warfare; in proof of which I have been eating these roots up to this time and henceforth they shall constitute my food.

Open your eyes; see the great abuses, the amazing acts committed by the enemy in the towns he has entered; outraging young girls, sacking houses and taking possession of all the wealth and perpetrating other abuses which no history of warfare records; the married women who excite tbeir evil passions are killed by the soldiers' bayonets, if their demands are refused. Beloved people, if your hearts are not moved by such abuses, you are unworthy of your family, of protecting their interests and of our country. Now is the time for the people of Samar to show that they will never consent to the odious American sovereignty on this soil, and hence all its inhabitants must take up arms.

Liberty and independence being then the very pure ideal which we are all pursuing, join me in the field so as to expel these deceitful Yankees, for they have come with the intention of exterminating us later, as they exterminated the Indians of America, who were the real owners of that land and rather than have this happen to us, before a large number of Americans arrives, let us hurl ourselves against these who are already here, and let us wage a war without quarter against these heartless vandals; for when a people united as brothers are defending themselves, there is no army strong enough to conquer them. It is only necessary to note the 'striking example of our brothers of Luzon, who preferred to have their towns reduced to ashes and their residents corpses rather than surrender. To-day Luzon is already independent, already enjoys the sweets of liberty, the fruit of four years' constant warfare. Let us imitate them and let us persevere in the struggle until the longed for independence is attained.

Each chief of a town shall organize a guerrilla band of the strength he may consider proper, to be maintained by the town itself, as I have ordered. The Police Commissioner (Delegado de Policia) shall be at the head of this guerrilla band, to be armed with bolos, lances and arrows, the tactics of which band I leave to the good judgment of the commissioner (delegado), or in case of necessity, let him come to me to be taught how he must attack the enemy; and in the absence of the commissioner, another patriot shall be at the head of said guerrilla band, who shall report to me, bringing paper, pen and ink.

By virtue of the foregoing, all the inhabitants of these mountains of Samar volunteered for the war and swear to defend this soil until the last drop of their blood be shed.

The patriots of the town of Natividad - San Policarpio - very worthily follow suit, and they are now offering examples of patriotism and conrage, as in that town various dead Americans are lying without heads; therefore, beloved people, awake from your lethargy, as the mountaineers already have, and let us quickly expel our enemies.

MOUNTAINS OF SAMAR, February 4, 1900.

LUKBAN, General.

(Seal) Military Headquarters Battalion Samar.

A true copy.