Macario Sakay

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Macario Sakay
Sacay and officers.jpg
Macario Sakay (third from left, front row) with his Cabinet: (first row, left to right) Julián Montalan, Francisco Carreon, Sakay, Lucio de Vega (second row, left to right) León Villafuerte, Benito Natividad.
President of the Philippines
(Unofficial)
Tagalog Republic
In office
May 6, 1902 – July 14, 1906
Vice President Francisco Carreón
Preceded by Miguel Malvar
Succeeded by Abolished
title next held by Manuel Quezon
Personal details
Born 1870
Tondo, Manila, Philippines
Died September 13, 1907 (aged 37)
Manila, Philippines
Political party Katipunan
Republika ng Katagalugan
Profession Revolutionary
Religion Roman Catholicism

Macario Sakay y de León (1870 – September 13, 1907) was a Filipino general in the Philippine Revolution against Spain and in the Philippine-American War.

Sakay continued resistance against the United States following the official American declaration of the Philippine-American War's end in 1902 and in the following year became president of the Tagalog Republic,[1]

Sakay was conned by the Americans into coming down from the mountains on promise of amnesty for him and his officials, on top of the formation of Philippine Assembly composed of Filipinos to serve as the 'gate of freedom. His surrender was made to be a prerequisite for a state of peace that would supposedly ensure the election of Filipino delegates to the Philippine Assembly. Sakay believed that the struggle has shifted to constitutional means, with the Assembly as means to winning independence.

Dominador Gómez, a Filipino labor leader, was authorized in 1905 by Governor General Henry Clay Ide to negotiate for the surrender of Sakay and his men. Gómez met with Sakay at his camp and argued that the establishment of a national assembly was being held up by Sakay's intransigence, and that its establishment would be the first step toward Filipino independence. Sakay agreed to end his resistance on conditions that a general amnesty be granted his men, that they be permitted to carry firearms, and that he and his officers be permitted to leave the country. Gómez assured Sakay that these conditions the would be acceptable to the Americans, and Sakay's emissary, General León Villafuerte, obtained agreement to them from the American Governor-General. Sakay and Villafuerte traveled to Manila, where they were welcomed and invited to receptions and banquets. One invitation came from the Constabulary Chief, Col. Harry H. Bandholtz. That invitation was a colonial trap and Sakay and his principal lieutenants were disarmed and arrested while the party was in progress.[2][3]

Sakay was accused of "bandolerismo under the Brigandage Act of Nov. 12, 1902, which interpreted all acts of armed resistance to American rule as banditry." The colonial Supreme Court of the Philippines upheld the decision.[4] On September 13, 1907, Macario Sakay was hanged. Before his death, he made the following statement:

"Death comes to all of us sooner or later, so I will face the Lord Almighty calmly. But I want to tell you that we are not bandits and robbers, as the Americans have accused us, but members of the revolutionary force that defended our mother country, the Philippines! Farewell! Long live the Republic and may our independence be born in the future! Long live the Philippines!"[5][6]

Contents

Early life[edit]

Sakay was born in 1870 in Tabora Street, Tondo, Manila.[7] He first worked as an apprentice in a calesa manufacturing shop. He was also a tailor, and an actor in some plays like Prince Baldovino, Doce Pares de Francia, and Amante de la Corona.[7] An original member of the Katipunan movement, of which he joined in 1894, he fought alongside Andrés Bonifacio throughout the Philippine Revolution.[7] In 1899, he continued the struggle for Philippine independence against the United States. Early in the Philippine-American War, he was jailed for seditious activities, and later released as part of an amnesty.[8]

After the war[edit]

Sakay was one of the founders of the Nacionalista Party, which strove for Philippine independence though legal means. The party appealed to the Philippine Commission. However, the Commission passed the Sedition Law, which prohibited any form of propaganda advocating independence.[9][10] (An unrelated Nacionalista Party which survives to the present day was founded in 1907.) Sakay thus took up arms again.

On November 12, 1902, the Philippine Commission passed the Bandolerism Act which proclaimed all captured resistance fighters or insurgents to be tried in court as bandits, ladrones, and robbers. In April 1904, Sakay issued his own manifesto proclaiming himself President and established his own government called the Repúblika ng Katagalugan (Tagalog Republic) in opposition to U.S. colonial rule. The U.S. Government did not recognize Sakay's government and, through the Bandolerism Act, labeled him an outlaw.

The Governor General, the U.S. Government, and the U.S. military left the pursuit of Sakay in the hands of the Philippine Constabulary and Philippine Scouts. In 1905 concentration camps, often referred to as Zonas, were re-established in parts of Cavite, Batangas, and Laguna. This had little effect on Sakay and his fighters. Extensive fighting continued in Southern-Luzon for months.

In popular culture[edit]

  • Sakay is the subject of the biographical film Sakay directed by Raymond Red, in which he is portrayed by actor Julio Diaz.[11]
  • A life-size statue of Sakay was unveiled at Plaza Morga in Tondo, by the Manila Historical Heritage Commission, on September 13, 2008.[12] Also in September 2008, the Philippine Senate adopted two separate resolutions expressing the sense of the Senate to honor the life of Macario Sakay and his fellow freedom fighters for their contribution to fight for Philippine Independence.[13][14]

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Orlino A. Ochosa (1995). Bandoleros, outlawed guerrillas of the Philippine-American War, 1903-1907. New Day Publishers. pp. 55, 95–96. ISBN 978-971-10-0555-9. 
  2. ^ Renato Constantino (1981). The Philippines: a past revisited. Renato Constantino. p. 266. ISBN 978-971-8958-00-1. 
  3. ^ Dante G. Guevarra (1995). History of the Philippine Labor Movement. Rex Bookstore, Inc. pp. 13. ISBN 978-971-23-1755-2. 
  4. ^ Dumimdin, Arnaldo. Philippine-American War. http://www.freewebs.com/philippineamericanwar/thelastholdouts.htm
  5. ^ Constantino, Renato (1981). The Philippines: a past revisited. Renato Constantino. p. 267. ISBN 978-971-8958-00-1. 
  6. ^ Pomeroy, William J. (1992). The Philippines: colonialism, collaboration, and resistance. International Publishers Co. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-7178-0692-8. 
  7. ^ a b c Kabigting Abad, Antonio (1955). General Macario L. Sakay: Was He a Bandit or a Patriot?. J. B. Feliciano and Sons Printers-Publishers. 
  8. ^ C. Duka (2008). Struggle for Freedom' 2008 Ed.. Rex Bookstore, Inc. pp. 200. ISBN 978-971-23-5045-0. 
  9. ^ "The Period of Suppressed Nationalism : Act No. 292 or the Sedition Law". Salon.com. March 4, 2010. 
  10. ^ United States Philippine Commission. Law against treason, sedition, etc. (Act No. 292). Washington, D.C.: Government printing office, 1902.
  11. ^ "Sakay (1993)". Retrieved 2007-08-13. 
  12. ^ Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, he mark of Sakay: The vilified hero of our war with America, The Philippine Star, September 8, 2008
  13. ^ Resolution No. 121, Philippine Senate
  14. ^ Resolution No. 623, Philippine Senate
Philippine Revolution (1896–1898)
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