Vicente Lukbán

Vicente Lukbán
General Vicente Lukbán in 1901.
Born	Vicente Lukbán y Rilles (1860-02-11)February 11, 1860 Labo, Camarines Norte, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Died	November 16, 1916(1916-11-16) (aged 56) Manila, Philippine Islands
Other names	Vicente Lucbán
Organization	Katipunan First Philippine Republic
Spouse(s)	Sofia Barba

Vicente Lukbán y Rilles or Vicente Lucbán Rilles (February 11, 1860–November 16, 1916), was a Filipino officer in Emilio Aguinaldo's staff during the Philippine Revolution and the politico-military chief of Samar and Leyte during the Philippine-American War. The Americans credited him as the mastermind of the famous Balangiga massacre, in which more than forty American troopers were killed. Later investigations by historians, however, disclosed that Lukban played no actual part in the planning of the attack.

Lukbán was born in Labo, Camarines Norte on February 11, 1860 to Agustin Lukbán of Ambos Camarines and Andrea Rilles of Lucban, Tayabas. He completed his early education at Escuela Pia in Lucban, continued his studies at Ateneo Municipal de Manila, and took up Bachelor of Laws at the University of Santo Tomas and Colegio de San Juan de Letran.

He returned to Labo after resigning from his job at the Manila Court of First Instance. He married Sofía Dízon Barba and the union produced four children: Cecilia, Félix, Agustín, and Vicente, Jr. Sofía died after their last child was born. Lukbán then left his children in the care of his siblings so that he could devote his time to the cause of the revolution.

Lukbán, thereafter, accepted the post of Justice of the Peace. In 1884, he was inducted into Freemasonry, Luz de Oriente ("Light of the Orient"). The organization had attracted many intellectuals and middle-class Filipinos to its ranks. In 1886, he stopped working in the judicial office and busied himself with agriculture and commerce in Bicol. He formed La Cooperativa Popular aimed at promoting the cooperative business activities of small and medium scale producers with the aim to increase their income from the lands by selling their products without passing through middle men. Part of the profits of the cooperatives were secretly remitted to the revolutionary movement of Andrés Bonifacio, the Katipunan. The cooperative also served as an effective covert means of spreading the ideals of the revolution. Their members could move around freely without arousing the suspicion of the Spanish authorities.