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jespiritu
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 Posted - 03/10/2006 : 4:37:27 PM
Macario Sakay, Tulisan or Patriot?
Macario Sakay, Tulisan or Patriot? - This is a biography of a notable person who fought against Americans early in the 20th Century. The Philippine-American War (1899-1902) followed directly after the Spanish-American War. Many Filipinos did not wish to replace Spain with a new colonial power as they wanted independence instead.
The war officially ended when Emilio Aguinaldo capitulated to the USA. However, long after the last of General Aguinaldo's men surrendered to the Americans, independent armies continued their fight for independence. One of these was led by Macario Sakay.
From the site:
Contrary to popular belief, Philippine resistance to American rule did not end with the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo in 1901. There were numerous resistance forces fighting for Philippine independence until the year 1910. One of these forces was led by Macario Sakay who established the Tagalog Republic.
Born in 1870 in Tondo, Macario Sakay had a working-class background. He started out as an apprentice in a calesa manufacturing shop. He was also a tailor, a barber, and an actor in comedias and moro-moros. His participation in Tagalog dramas exposed him to the world of love, courage, and discipline.
In 1894, Sakay joined the Dapitan, Manila branch of the Katipunan. Due to his exemplary work, he became head of the branch. His nightly activities as an actor in comedias camouflaged his involvement with the Katipunan. Sakay assisted in the operation of the Katipunan press. During the early days of the Katipunan, Sakay worked with Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto. He fought side by side with Bonifacio in the hills of Morong (now Rizal) Province.
Source : http://world-history-blog.blogspot.com/2005/07/macario-sakay-tulisan-or-patriot.html
 
Macario Sakay
Macario Sakay established and led the revolutionary group “Tagalog Republic.” He was the reason why after the arrest of Aguinaldo in 1901, the Filipinos insurgency against the Americans continued.
He was born in Tondo in 1870. His family was part of the working class sector. His first job was at a kalesa manufacturing shop, and then he became a tailor, barber, and actor in komedyas and moro-moros. His theater experience improved his dedication, courage and self-discipline.
During the initial stages of the Filipino-American war, Sakay was jailed for his seditious activities. He had been caught forming several Katipunan chapters and preaching its ideals from town to town.
He was released in 1902, as a result of an amnesty. He, together with other former members of the Katipunan established a group that was christened “Republika ng Katagaluhan.” He became the leader of the group whose primary intention is to liberate the Filipinos from the American colonizers.
Sakay was tough. He made it known to the Americans that they were true revolutionaries. He further added that they had their own constitution and established government. In fact, they have their own flag as a blatant show of defiance to the Americans.
In late 1904, Sakay and his men took military offensive against the Americans. They were able to seize ammunition and firearms in their raids in Cavite and Batangas. Disguised in Philippine Constabulary uniforms, they captured the U.S. military garrison in Parañaque and ran away with large amounts of revolvers and ammunitions.
Using guerrilla warfare, Sakay would always utilize a large number of rebels against a small group of American soldiers to guarantee a successful ambush attack. They usually attack at night when most of their enemies are asleep.
Sakay and some of his men voluntarily surrendered on July 14, 1906.
Three days after, they were arrested by a couple of American soldiers while attending a party hosted by the governor of Cavite. Dominador Gomez was successful in double-crossing Sakay. They imprisoned him at Bilibid. He was hanged to death a year after his arrest.
Source : http://www.globalpinoy.com/ch/ch_category.php?category=heroes&name=Macario%20Sakay&table=ch_heroes&startpage=1&endpage=15
Macario Sakay and the Struggle for Kalayaan
Continuity in the Katipunan guerilla movement, 1892-1907
On February 4, 1899, Private Philip Grayson fired a shot across San Juan Bridge, beginning the struggle between US and Philippine forces for control of the Philippine Islands. The Philippine army, still prepared for battle in the aftermath of the revolution against the Spanish occupation, fought with tenacity. The United States military pursued a policy of all-out war against the Philippine resistance and of preferential treatment for those among the native elite who collaborated with the occupying US forces. According to officially sanctioned history books, those that even deem worthy of mention this "unfortunate unpleasantness" between the United States and Philippines at the turn of the 20th century[1], the pacification, as it was phrased, of the Philippine Islands ended with the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo on March 23, 1901.[2], [3] In truth the American War as waged by the ilustrados[4], the educated landed elite, had already ended. Aguinaldo merely joined the ranks of the collaborators, those who recognized that their interests, property and otherwise, would best be served by American rule. Conflict, however, still raged across the country. The American War, it will be proven, was for the common person, or tao, members of the peasantry and the incipient urban working class, only an extension of the continuing fight for kalayaan, freedom, that had begun with the Katipunan under Andres Bonifacio against the Spanish in 1892.[5] The Republika ng Katagalugan under Macario Sakay exemplified this continuing struggle and its significance to the masses. There was an unbroken continuity in both ideology and in the class makeup of the Katipunan under Bonifacio (1892-1897) and later under Sakay (1901-1906).
Macario Leon Sakay [second from right, seated, in photo] was born in 1870 in a house on Tabora Street in Tondo, Manila.[6] Information regarding Sakay's upbringing is scarce to non-existent. He was born of a poor family and, it is presumed, out of wedlock; Sakay was his mother's family name.[7] He worked as an apprentice in a kalesa (a horse drawn carriage and the principal means of urban transportation) manufacturing shop and as a tailor. Sakay could read and write Tagalog, and spoke some Spanish, "but not enough to carry on a sustained conversation."[9] He also acted in komedyas and moro-moros, which were stage plays named for their depiction of Christian/Muslim conflict. During this time, it can be safely assumed that he met Bonifacio who was also from Tondo and acted in moro-moros as well.
In 1894, Sakay joined the Katipunan, the movement established by Bonifacio to resist the Spanish occupation of the Philippines.[10] The Katipunan's religious and mystical overtones and its call for kalayaan, a freedom that entailed redistribution of wealth and a fellowship of equals as well as liberty from foreign domination,[11] deeply affected Sakay's future political commitment. There is evidence of this revolutionary concept in the account by Isabelo de los Reyes in John Taylor's compilation of documents, Philippine Insurrection against the United States: "I have said, and I will repeat a thousand times, that the Katipunan was a plebian society; that is certain - the limit of the aspirations of the Katipunan was a communistic republic."[12]
Sakay, "due to his good record," was appointed president of the Dapitan section of the Katipunan, thereby working directly under Bonifacio.[13] He served prior to this as an adjutant to Emilio Jacinto, intellectual leader of the Katipunan.[14] He was also responsible for the distribution of the Katipunan newspaper.[15] With the execution of Bonifacio in 1897 and the downfall of the Magdiwang wing to Aguinaldo,[16] Sakay assumed a less political role and began to recruit members for Katipunan districts.[17] This reaction to the ascension of Aguinaldo to power is widespread among the leaders of Bonifacio's Katipunan and appears to have been a response not only of resentment at Aguinaldo's perceived usurpation of authority, but one of necessity: most of Bonifacio's followers were demoted and deliberately ignored by the new ilustrado leadership.
In 1901, with the apparent goal of accomplishing Katipunan aims via legal means, Sakay founded and was secretary of the short-lived Nacionalista Party, which strove for immediate independence. Under the dual presidency of Pascual Poblete and Santiago Alvarez, the Nacionalista Party represented, as Orlino Ochosa astutely observed, "a Magdiwang-Katagalugan plot - in the midst of the republican [i.e. Aguinaldo's movement] struggle."[18] Poblete approached William H. Taft, head of the Philippine commission, seeking legal status. [19] Entirely unwilling to consider any form of Philippine independence, Taft passed the Sedition Law, which effectively banned the party. Sakay and the Katagalugan members abandoned the legal quest for independence and actively fought against the Americans in Morong province, later Rizal, until he was captured in June 1902[20] under the Sedition Law and imprisoned. Under the amnesty of July 1902, he was released and resumed activities.[21]
In May 1902 with Francisco Carreon acting as Vice President and secretary, Sakay issued a declaration that defined the republic that he presided over. It was a direct criticism of the self-interested practices of the ilustrado leaders in the past.
Sa paghihimagsik na guinawa dito sa Pilipinas ay na pagmalas sa lahat ng Kababayan na ang di pagcakaisang loob, gaua ng paglingap sa pilak, sa yaman at karunungan, ay huala ang pagtatanggol sa kalahatan, at itinangi ang sariling katauan. Sa ngayon ay minarapat nitong K. Pangasiwaan itong Kautusan sa kapanahunan ng pakikidigma. [22]
During the war that was fought here in Pilipinas, it became apparent to all our compatriots that unity of loob was absent, because all people cared for were silver, wealth, and education; thus, there was no willingness to defend the whole as concern for one's own body was paramount. Presently, the Highest Council deems it necessary to proclaim this order for the duration of the war.[23]
Important in Sakay's declaration is the mention of loob. Loob is the inner being, or the inside of a person. It was a defining concept in many Katipunan documents. In contrast to the ilustrado quest for "silver, wealth and education", the tao was commended to seek unity of loob and defend the whole. This unity is evidenced in a revolutionary statement in the constitution of the Republika ng Katagalugan:
Sino mang tagalog tungkol anak dito sa Kapuluang Katagalugan, ay walang itatangi sino man tungkol sa dugo gayon din sa kulay ng balat ng isa't isa; maputi, maitim, mayaman, dukha, marunong at mangmang lahat ay magkakapantay na walang higit at kulang, dapat magkaisang loob, maaaring humigit sa dunong, sa yaman, sa ganda, datapwa't hindi mahihigitan sa pagkatao ng sino man, at sa paglilingkod nang kahit alin.[24]
No Tagalog, born in this Tagalog archipelago, shall exalt any person above the rest because of his race or the color of his skin; fair, dark, rich, poor, educated and ignorant all are equal, and should be one in loob. There may be differences in education, wealth and appearance, but never in essential nature [pagkatao] and ability to serve a cause. [25]
This envisioning of "essential nature" and brotherhood was a direct refutation of the wealthy upper class seeking independence for their personal benefit.
Fascinating throughout the Republika ng Katagalugan's formative documents is the use of Tagalog as the term of national definition in place of the standard Filipinas. While its relevance is undeniable and it is invariably present in Sakay's writings, the question of the use of the term has never been addressed by any scholar on the period. The Malolos government established under Aguinaldo always used the standard term Filipinas. Bonifacio in "Ang Dapat Mabatid nang mga Tagalog", however, used the term Tagalog rather than Filipino.[26] Sakay's choice of Katagalugan represented, as mentioned above, a deliberate continuation of Bonifacio's Katipunan against the ilustrado branches. The persistence of this term, while extremely significant for understanding the forces involved in shaping the Katipunan of Macario Sakay, does not explain why both Bonifacio and, later, Sakay, chose it.
To understand the significance of Katagalugan as the term of national definition, we must examine the evolution of conceptions and terminologies of identity in the Philippines. The term Filipino originally was limited to the creoles, that is Spaniards born in the Philippines. The native was classified as indio. The use of Filipino was gradually widened to apply to mestizos and, finally, to propertied natives.[27] The use of this term was proudly propagated by the ilustrados; it was a sign of prestige and nationhood. The Katipunan's rejection of the use of Filipino signified a rejection of the ilustrado concept of nation-state. In the Presidential proclamation of 6 May 1902, Sakay declared:
Ang mga Nayon, bayan Hucuman nitong Filipinas ay siyang tinatauag na Kapuluang Katagalugan, sa macatuid baga, ay gaya ng Jolo, Mindanao, Kabisayaan, Kailokohan iba't iba pang lupa na tunay na Tagalog.[28]
The villages and municipalities of this Filipinas are called Katagalugan Archipelago, that is to say, the likes of Jolo, Mindanao, Visayas, Ilocos and all other different lands that are truly Tagalog.[29]
The inclusiveness evidenced in this proclamation eliminated what would otherwise have been perceived as the limiting effect of a term that promotes a linguistic sense of identity in a country with many different major languages. The ilustrado notion of nation-state, i.e., independence from foreign domination, supplanted by internal oppression, as exemplified by their appropriation of the Spanish term Filipino, was inherently rejected in this choice of terms. Also, the society stratified by class, as exemplified in the Filipino/indio distinction, was rejected in favor of "unity of lo?b." Sakay further rebukes those that hinder this unity,
"nagnanasa ng Kalayaan ng sariling katauan, at gayon din naman sa paghahangad ng dangal at kayamanan, na di nililingap ang kapurihan ng Bayan."[30]
"[who] seek kalayaan of their bodies, who hunger for honor and wealth, without showing compassionate care for the honor of the country."[31]
Again, seeking to please the individual over the group is rebuked as this does not promote unity of lo?b.
From April to August, 1903, Sakay set up headquarters in Mount San Cristobal and proclaimed himself president of the Republika ng Katagalugan.[32] In August he was driven to the foothills in Morong, where he continued to receive support from the local population. The Constabulary continually complained of municipal authorities cooperating and abetting Sakay.[33] The Americans resorted to relocating large sections of the population into concentration camps,[34] "ostensibly to protect them from guerillas but actually to isolate the latter and deny them sanctuary among the people and supplies from their sympathizers."[35] A 10 percent income tax was organized by Sakay to help support the guerilla movement. Even after the establishment of civil government a system of voluntary aid to guerilla forces continued. Doherty reports being "astonished when Sakay told me that he had four thousand men subject to his orders. These were chiefly Filipino remontados."[36]
In 1904 Sakay met with the other guerilla leaders fighting in the area. They arranged to unify their forces under the leadership of Sakay as President of the Republika ng Katagalugan. Carreon continued as Vice President. Julian Montalan[37] became Lt. General and was in charge of all military operations. Under Montalan were Col. Ramos, Col. Masigla, and Lt. Col. De Vega. Serving with Montalan were Maj. Gen. Cornelio Felizardo and Brig. Gen. Oruga.[38] With many American and Constabulary troops engaged in fighting in Samar and Mindanao, the leaders decided that the time was ripe to strike.
Wearing constabulary uniforms, the guerillas conducted raids across Cavite and Batangas.[39] In late January 1905, Montalan raided San Francisco de Malabon. They overcame the constabulary force and captured their weapons. In departing, they kidnapped the family of Governor Mariano Trias.[40] This action was taken in response to Gov. Trias collaborationist policies and his arrest of those suspected of aiding the guerillas. The family was recovered shortly thereafter by the Constabulary.[41]
Recognizing the mass support for Sakay and their inability to eliminate the Republika ng Katagalugan, the authorities devised a plan. Governor General Henry C. Ide and Col. Bandholtz,[42] head of the Philippine Constabulary and the single American figure most responsible for the pursuit of, and battles with, Sakay, together authorized Dr. Dominador Gomez,[43] the ilustrado leader of the Union Obrera Democratica, to negotiate Sakay's surrender.[44] The Americans promised Gomez that, if Sakay surrendered, the Philippines would be given an Assembly to work toward independence. Of course, Gomez would also receive the reward money and have a favorable chance at a seat in the Assembly.[45]
Gomez contacted General Leon Villafuerte and presented him with a letter signed by Governor Ide, detailing that upon surrender the guerillas would be granted amnesty from punishment and given the freedom to live where they pleased.[46] Very cleverly phrasing the offer of a Philippine Assembly in katipunero language, Gomez referred to it as the "pinto ng kalayaan" (gate of kalayaan).[47] Villafuerte agreed to inform Sakay. Having conferred with Sakay, Villafuerte traveled to Manila to act as emissary. There he met with H.H. Bandholtz, head of the constabulary, and the following day he was met at Malaca?ang by Gov. Gen. Wright. The terms desired by Sakay were agreed upon.[48] On 4 July 1906, Macario Sakay and his general staff, Carreon, Montalan, De Vega and Villafuerte marched into Manila. The people greeted them with a brass band and shouts of "Mabuhay si Sakay! Mabuhay ang mga bayani!"[49] ("Long live Sakay! Long live the heroes!") For thirteen days they were invited to parties, banquets and dances. On 17 July 1906, they were invited to a party hosted by Acting Gov. Van Schaick. At around midnight, "shielded from the gaze of sympathetic town folk,"[50] the constabulary surrounded the house and arrested them.
Sakay, Carreon, Montalan, De Vega, and Villafuerte were tried under the Brigandage Act, which interpreted all acts of armed resistance as ladronism, i.e., banditry.[51] Oruga had been arrested a year before and Felizardo had been killed. The movement had been successfully decapitated. Sakay and De Vega were sentenced to be hanged. On 13 September 1907, "Sakay ascended the scaffold" pausing briefly "to say these parting words:"[52]
"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 were not bandits and robbers, as the Americans have accused us, but members of the revolutionary force that defended our mother country, Filipinas! Farewell! Long live the republic and may our independence be born in the future! Farewell! Long live Filipinas!"[53]
Following Sakay's death, the assembly was established as promised and Gomez was an elected member. The ilustrados received their desired political power and an inroad with a colonial master that was all too willing to aid in their self-aggrandizing pursuits. The oligarchic transfer of power is readily apparent in political discourse to this day. Independence merely supplanted a foreign elite with a native one.
Long disparaged in Philippine historical discourse as a violent bandit, Sakay has now been simply forgotten. A visitor to Manila is quickly struck by many of the names of the streets and locations. Traveling from the grotesquely wealthy mansions of Forbes (U.S. Gov. Gen.) Park down through the traffic and general squalor of Taft (U.S. Gov. Gen.) Ave. to Lawton (Conquering U.S. General), one encounters wrenching poverty and injustice accompanied by street signs named after a conquering colonial power ? but never, not even the smallest eskinita, or alleyway, named for Sakay. Still, if you traveled slightly farther in either direction, you would have left Fort Bonifacio (a military base, where the Philippine military is trained by US advisors in tactics of reconcentration, counter-guerilla warfare and psy-ops) and finally arrived at Monumento (a memorial monument to Bonifacio--a statue of him, itak [54] raised defiantly in the air, cedula [55] freshly torn), home to hundreds, even thousands, of homeless squatters, cardboard shanties, and decrepit, degrading human misery. These squatters are cleared out of the monument's vicinity whenever a foreign dignitary will be visiting--cleared off with police truncheons, and burned out of their (cardboard) homes. At the foot of the monument engraved with the words kalayaan, Bonifacio's dream, Sakay's dream, is unmet.
While ignored and deliberately suppressed by official Philippine history (or co-opted like Bonifacio), Sakay's story is vividly alive in the events currently shaping the Philippines. From the U.S. military presence, to reconcentration camps breeding disease and malnutrition, to peasants armed with itak and anting-anting shot down by military forces, the history of Sakay is imminently present and real. In this context, historical recounting is not a value-free academic task. Rather, it is an essential tool in the continuing struggle for justice and kalayaan. An historical retelling of these events serves not merely to commemorate and honor those who struggled and died, or to learn the lessons of the past, (both worthwhile tasks) but to generate mobilizing narratives that motivate and empower people to act now against structures of oppression and inhumanity.
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