He was also an officer in Emilio Aguinaldo's staff during the Philippine Revolution and the politico-military chief of Samar and Leyte during the Philippine–American War.

In 1886, he resigned his position as a justice of the peace to form Coorporation Popular, an agricultural and commercial cooperative based in Bicol aimed at promoting the business activities of small and medium scale producers in order to increase their income from the lands by selling their products without passing through middle men.

[1] This enabled him to master the arts of soldiery–fencing, shooting, gunpowder and ammunition preparations, and the planning and execution of war strategies and tactics.

Shortly after Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence in 1898, Lukbán was sent to the Bicol region to direct military operations against the Spaniards.

This union produced eight children: Victoria, Juan, María, Fidel, Rosita, Ramon, José, and Lourdes.

When US Major General Arthur MacArthur Jr. offered Lukban amnesty in exchange for his surrender, he turned it down and swore to fight to the end.

American troops encountered few enemies to fight in the open, finding themselves constantly harassed by Philippine soldiers.

Some sources credit Lukban as the strategist behind the September 1901 Balangiga massacre, in which more than 50 American troopers were ambushed and killed.

[5][6] After two prisoners of war revealed the location of Lukbán's headquarters along the Cadac-an River, Basey, Samar, warning that the fort was impregnable, Major Littleton Waller sent scouts to investigate.