Macario Sakay, patriot and hero
WHO was Macario Sakay? Brigand or hero? Bandolero or patriot? When Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim built a monument to Gen. Macario Leon Sakay at Plaza Morga and inaugurated it with great pomp on 13 September 2010, he more than raised eyebrows for that was the first ever larger-than-life statue of Tondo’s heroic “bandolero.”
Aside from General Macario Leon Sakay, there were other “bandoleros” – Lt. Col. Lucio de Vega, Lt. Gen Francisco Carreon, Major General Leon Villafuerte, Major Benito Natividad, and Lt. Col. Julio Montalan. They posed for a group picture in 1906, shortly after they were lured to surrender, only to be ignominiously betrayed by designated American and Filipino negotiators.
To officials of the American colonial goverment, Macario Sakay was a politically dangerous adversary because he had formed a juridical entity, the “Republicang Katagalugan,” in the inaccessible mountains of Rizal province. His goal was to continue fighting for independence and defending the First Republic even after the capture of President Emilio Aguinaldo in 1901.
In 2016, 109 years after he was executed by the American colonial government, the enigmatic General Macario Sakay will at long last receive, albeit posthumously, the national and official recognition he deserves. Camp Eldridge in Los Baños, Laguna, will be named Camp General Macario Sakay thanks to the Secretary of National Defense Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin, who approved this long-delayed historical rectification.
I was more than delighted when Lt. Col. Ronald Jess Alcudia e-mailed me the splendid news. A member of PMA Class 1993, Ltc Alcudia has been doing research on post-Aguinaldo anti-imperialist resistance movements and has proposed a thorough and patriotic revaluation of the role of our post-1902 revolutionary fighters.
Let us salute Lt. Gen. Ernesto Carolina (chairman of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office) for supporting Ltc Alcudia’s advocacy, and the Philippine Historical Association, the civilian component that issued a board resolution recommending that Camp Eldridge be renamed and dedicated to Gen. Macario Sakay. Last but not the least is Chief of Staff Gen. Hernando Iriberri who gave his blessings to this noble project.
Once again, Macario Sakay is breaking news as he was in 1906 when he was captured and executed. The day after he was hanged, a cosmopolitan rag, “The Manila American,” reported: “As a result of the execution of Macario Sakay and Lucio de Vega at Bilibid prison yesterday, threats are reported to have been made against the life of Dominador Gomez, by friends of the dead bandits, who claim that the valiant “attractor” had promised those men they would escape punishment for their misdeeds. It is asserted by some of the friends of Sakay that Gomez has but three days to live and had better make peace with his countrymen… Sakay gave vent to a bitter denunciation of the (American) insular government for condemning him to die. He claimed patriotic motives had inspired him and his last words were “Adios Filipinas!” De Vega… contended that he too was a revolutionary.”
The vernacular paper “Muling Pagsilang” was more accurate as it published Gen. Sakay’s valiant farewell: “Ipinalagay nila [Sakay at de Vega] na ang kahatulan ng mga hukuman ay di nababatay sa matuwid. At bago naganap ang parusa ay nagsalita munang, “Kami’y mga revolucionario!” Isang ‘ Paalam Filipinas!” ang kanilang nabigkas at pagkatapos ay inihandog na ni Sakay ang kanyang liig sa berdugong Amerikano.”
Because the Filipino-American war did not end after Pres. Emilio Aguinaldo was captured in Palanan, Isabela, the Brigadage Act (1902) was passed to discredit and punish with death Filipino revolutionaries who continued to resist American colonial rule. The Act referred to them as “ladrones” and bandits, never as patriots.
To obliterate the memory of the Revolution, the First Republic established in Malolos, and America’s war of conquest, we once again became the Philippine Islands. Curiously enough, the “dirty little war” ( Filipino- American War) became a hot electoral issue in the United States for it threatened to besmirch America’s meticulously configured image as the benevolent purveyor of this tripwire called democracy. As a result, patriots like the long-haired barber, actor, ex- Katipunero from Tondo were considered pernicious and had to be forever silenced with the Brigandage Act, or, coopted through the First Philippine Assembly. That was Dominador Gomez’s shambolic mission. A golden tongue he must have had to persuade Sakay to discuss possibilities with American authorities at a dinner-dance.Gen. Sakay was arrested on the spot, sent to the gallows, without even a glimpse of the halls of parliament.
And what did Eldridge do to deserve a military camp in his honor? An American serviceman, Sgt. George Eldridge, was once awarded a Medal of Honor for fighting Indians in 1870. In 1899, he came to the Philippines with the US 14th Infantry Regiment and was killed at Imus, Cavite, on October 3 of the same year. Later, that military camp was used by Company H of the 13th Cavalry Survey and Construction; it also became the barracks for one infantry batallion and the Signal Corps. Renaming the camp after General Macario Sakay is historically correct. By coincidence, it is located in the Calabarzon where Sakay used to roam, guerrilla- style, wreaking fear and havoc on the enemies of the Philippine Republic. (ggc1898@ gmail.com)