Macario Sakay

Born 1870 in Manila; died there Sept. 13, 1907. Figure in the national liberation movement in the Philippines. An artisan.

Sakay joined the Katipunan in 1894. In 1901 he took part in the establishment of the Nationalist Party, which was banned, however, by the American authorities. After the defeat of the Philippine Republic in 1901 in the war with the USA, Sakay became head of a detachment of the Republican Army, which resolved to continue the struggle against the colonialists. In 1902 the insurgents proclaimed Sakay “president and commander in chief of the Tagalog Archipelago.” In 1906 the American authorities, after promising to create an elected legislative assembly and to grant amnesty to the insurgents, succeeded in obtaining Sakay’s agreement to cease military operations. But when Sakay appeared in Manila, he was arrested and executed.