FILIPINO HEROES: Macario Sakay

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.[8] 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 loob." 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 loob.

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 Malacanang 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.

Bibliography

Articles:
Abad, Antonio. "Not Outlaws, but Patriots." Sunday Times Magazine. 2 March 1947.
Abesamis, Ma. Elena H. "Last Stand." Sunday Times Magazine. 22 June 1969.
Almario, Virgilio S. "Rebeldeng Barbero." Diyaryo Filipino. 13 September 1991.
Doherty, D. "Ladrone Situation." New York Evening Post. 2 October, 1906
Books:
Abad, Antonio K., General Macario L. Sakay: Was He a Bandit or a Patriot? Manila, Philippines: J.B. Feliciano and Sons, 1955.
Agoncillo, Teodoro A., Malolos: The Crisis of the Republic. Quezon City, Philippines: The University of the Philippines Press, 1960.
Agoncillo, Teodoro A., The Revolt of the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan. The University of the Philippines Press. Quezon City, Philippines, 1956.
Alzona, Encarnacion, Julio Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution. Manila, Philippines: Carmelo and Bauermann,1964.
Constantino, Renato, The Philippines: A Past Revisited. Manila, Philippines, 1975.
De Bevoise, Ken, Agents of Apocalypse: Epidemic Disease in the Colonial Philippines. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.
Elarth, Harold H, The Story of the Philippine Constabulary. Los Angeles, CA, 1949.
Hurley, Vic, Jungle Patrol: The Story of the Philippine Constabulary. E.P. Dutton & Co, 1938.
Ileto, Reynaldo C., Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910. Quezon City, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1979.
Majul, Cesar, Apolinario Mabini, Revolutionary. Manila, Philippines: National Historical Institute, 1993.
May, Glenn Anthony, Battle For Batangas: A Philippine Province at War. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1993.
May, Glenn Anthony, Social Engineering in the Philippines: The Aims, Execution, and Impact of American Colonial Policy, 1900-1913. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1984.
Ochosa, Orlino A, "Bandoleros": Outlawed Guerillas of the Philippine-American War: 1903-1907. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1995.
Pomeroy, William J., An American-Made Tragedy: Neo-Colonialism and Dictatorship in the Philippines. New York, NY: International Publishers, 1974.
Pomeroy, William J., The Philippines: Colonialism, Collaboration and Resistance! New York, NY: International Publishers, 1992.
Rafael, Vicente L., Contracting Colonialism: Translation and Christian Conversion in Tagalog Society under Early Spanish Rule. Manila, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1988.
Ricarte, Artemio, Memoirs of General Artemio Ricarte. Manila, Philippines: National Heroes Commission, 1963.
Salamanca, Bonifacio, Filipino Reaction to American Rule: 1901-1913. The Shoe String Press, 1968.
Santos, Jose P., Ang Tatlong Napabantog na "Tulisan" sa Pilipinas. Gerona, Tarlac, Philippines, 1936.
Scott, William Henry, Cracks in the Parchment Curtain: and other essays in Philippine History. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1982.
Scott, William Henry, The Union Obrera Democratica First Filipino Labor Union. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1992.
Sturtevant, David, Popular Uprisings in the Philippines: 1840-1940. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1976.
Taylor, John R. M., The Philippine Insurrection against the United States: A Compilation of Documents with Notes and Introduction. 5 vols. Eugenio Lopez Foundation. Pasay City, Philippines, 1971-1973 (based on 1906 galleys).
Villamor, Ignacio, Criminality in the Philippines: 1903-1908. Manila, Philippines: Manila Bureau of Printing, 1909.
White, John R., Bullets and Bolos! Fifteen Years in the Philippine Islands. New York City, NY, 1928. Dissertations and Theses.
Coats, George Y., The Philippine Constabulary: 1901-1917. Ohio State University, 1968. Government Publications.
U.S. Philippine Commission, Annual Report of the Philippine Commission. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1902-1907.
Newspapers and Periodicals:
Manila Times. 1902-1907.
Muling Pagsilang/El Renacimiento. 1902-1907.
New York Times. 1902-1907.
Unpublished Manuscripts, Letters and Papers
David P. Barrows papers, BANC MSS C-B 1005, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
E. Coombs Diary, 1899 July 26-Sept. 20, BANC MSS 86/197, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Cullinane, Michael, Quezon and Bandholtz: the origins of the "special relationship", Paper presented for the panel on "Manuel Quezon: ëthe good fight' revisited" at the 31st annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, Los Angeles, 1 April 1979.
Bernard Moses papers, BANC MSS C-B 994, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
FOOTNOTES
[1] The patently spurious term Philippine Insurrection no longer seems appropriate to historians of any bent. Having chosen to cover the Philippine perspective of this conflict, I will simply term it the American War.
[2] The historiography of this subject is complicated to say the least. For background on the conflict from the American perspective, see Stuart Creighton Miller, "Benevolent Assimilation": The American Conquest of the Philippines, 1899-1903 (New Haven and London; Yale University Press; 1982); for a Filipino perspective, see Renato Constantino, The Philippines: A Past Revisited (Manila, Philippines; 1975) and Reynaldo Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910 (Manila, Philippines; Ateneo de Manila University Press; 1979).
[3] On April 1, 1901, Aguinaldo took oath of allegiance to the United States and on April 19 issued a proclamation to the same effect, which was disseminated by the Americans in several languages. Constantino, A Past Revisited, 234-235.
[4] Literally "the enlightened"
[5] I am deeply indebted to Reynaldo Ileto's concept of doing "history from below" and his revolutionary approach to Philippine history. My work is in many ways an extension of his thought. Ileto, Pasyon.
[6] Antonio K. Abad, General Macario L. Sakay: Was He a Bandit or a Patriot? (Manila, Philippines; J.B. Feliciano and Sons; 1955), 4. The 1870 date of birth is uncertain. Frequently elsewhere Sakay is referred to as being in his late twenties during the height of his activities. This is highly unlikely. Given Sakay's early beginnings in Bonifacio's Katipunan, the 1870 date seems much more probable. Abad, as correspondent for the Tagalog newspaper Muling Pagsilang, interviewed Macario Sakay after his surrender in 1906. Sakay turned over to Abad documents pertaining to Republika ng Katagalugan. Abad's book contains translations of the Tagalog documents, including the constitution. Unfortunately, the translations are rather inadequate in conveying the depth of the Tagalog word-concepts and the original texts are not provided (with the exception of a few frequently illegible photostats). However, Jose Santos published the original texts, making no attempt at translation, in Ang Tatlong Napabantog na "Tulisan" sa Pilipinas (Gerona, Tarlac; 1936).
[7] ibid, 5.
[8] In ibid, 4, Sakay is mentioned as being a tailor. This is also referred to in Ileto, Pasyon, 174 (presumably based on Abad's account). Constantino, A Past Revisited, 261, however refers to him as a barber. This is also mentioned in George Y. Coats, The Philippine Constabulary: 1901-1917 (Ohio State University, 1968), 158. Despite discrepancies in both accounts, Abad comes out on the whole as the more trustworthy. Coats based his research solely on the Manila Times and Constabulary letters (i.e., he used only English language sources of notable US bias). Artemio Ricarte, Memoirs of General Artemio Ricarte (Manila, Philippines; National Heroes Commission; 1963), 177, however, mentions Sakay as a barber as well. It is possible that he pursued three trades.
[9] David Doherty to New York Evening Post, 2 October 1906.
[10] Abad, Macario Sakay, 4
[11] Rather than further discuss this interpretation of the kalayaan concept, I would refer the reader to Ileto's Payson and Revolution, the defining work on the subject.
[12] John R.M. Taylor, Philippine Insurrection against the United States: A Compilation of Documents with Notes and Introduction, 5 vols, (Pasay City, Philippines; Eugenio Lopez Foundation; 1971-73), vol. 1, doc. 120.
[13] Abad, Macario Sakay, 4. The Katipunan divided areas into districts or councils known as balangay. Dapitan was a balangay of Trozo. In Taylor, Philippine Insurrection, Vol. 1, Ex. 10, Francisco Carreon, who would become vice-president of the Republika ng Katagalugan, is listed as the president of the Silanganan balangay, also in Trozo. If Sakay and Carreon had not met previously, then they certainly became well acquainted in presiding over these balangay.
[14] Ricarte, Memoirs of Artemio Ricarte, xx.
[15] Gregoria de Jesus, Mga Tala ng Aking Buhay, in Julio Nakpil and the Philippine Revolution, Ed. E. Alzona (Manila, Philippines; Carmelo and Bauermann; 1964), 162. Gregoria de Jesus was the widow of A. Bonifacio and her memoirs indicate the level of esteem that former Katipunan members gave Sakay even after his execution for banditry.
[16] I would refer the reader to Constantino, A Past Revisited, for background on the struggle for leadership of the Katipunan and the seizure of power by the ilustrados led by Emilio Aguinaldo and the Cavite Magdalo branch of the Katipunan. The history of this subject is complex and of singular importance in understanding Sakay's Katipunan and its aims. In extremely brief explanation: at a late date in the revolution against Spain, two factions of the Katipunan in Cavite became dominated by local land owning elite Filipinos: Magdiwang, under Santiago Alvarez and Magdalo, under Aguinaldo. Caught in the middle of this power struggle was the Katagalugan branch of the notoriously poor Tondo, headed by Bonifacio, the founder of the Katipunan. Bonifacio was tried and executed by the Magdalo branch under Aguinaldo. Magdiwang lost out in the struggle for power to Magdalo and Alvarez, disgruntled, disappeared for quite some time.
[17] Ileto, Pasyon, 175; Letter of Pio Del Pilar to Jose Santos, 23 January 1930, in Abad, Macario Sakay, 33.
[18] Orlino Ochosa, "Bandoleros": Outlawed Guerrillas of the Philippine-American War 1903-1907, (Quezon City, Philippines; New Day Publishers; 1995), 85. Ochosa further points out that while Alvarez was nominally leader of the party the his role was largely that of a "figurehead" and "the real moving figures would be Macario Sakay himself ? as secretary-general ? and his Katagalugan group of Tondo Katipuneros." Ibid.
[19] A complete transcript of the interview between Poblete and Taft of 29 August 1901 is available in the Bernard Moses Papers, Material Relating to the Philippine Commission, 1900-1907, Carton 2, Bernard Moses papers, BANC MSS C-B 994, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Taft's amiable "advice" to Poblete to dissolve the party, in what is best characterized as a tensely courteous meeting, is belied by his subsequent banning of the Nacionalista Party.
[20] Almost all secondary sources on this period record Sakay as captured in 1901. However, no primary source records this. There is a reference on 12 June 1902 in the Manila Times to the capture of "Macario Sicay (sic) and other organizers of the Katipunan". 12 June 1902, Manila Times, 8. Fascinatingly the Manila Times records that he was captured by Licerio Geronimo. Geronimo had previously been a lieutenant in Aguinaldo's forces and, in the grandest of historical ironies, had led the troops that killed Gen. Lawton (famous in US history for the capture of the Apache leader, Geronimo).
[21] Constantino, A Past Revisited, 261.
[22] Presidencia nitong Kapuluang Katagalugan, 1, "Pamahayag" (Proclamation), 6 May 1902, in Santos, Tatlong Tulisan, 51.
[23] Translation from Ileto, Pasyon, 177. Wherever possible I have tried to make use of Ileto's translations which capture the heart of Tagalog word-concepts admirably. When not so cited I have translated the documents myself.
[24] Ammendments by the Junta Suprema, IV, 3 (Katungkulin Gaganapin ng Lahat. . .), in Santos, Tatlong Tulisan, 45.
[25] Ileto, Pasyon, 177.
[26] As cited in Abad, Macario Sakay, 6, footnote.
[27] Constantino, A Past Revisited, 151-152.
[28] Presidencia nitong Kapuluang Katagalugan, Unang Pangkat, 1, "Pamahayag" (Proclamation), 6 May 1902, in Santos, Tatlong Tulisan, 51.
[29] Author's translation.
[30] Ibid, 53.
[31] Ileto, Pasyon, 178.
[32] Ileto, Pasyon, 185. Ileto points to the religious significance of this site, the location of Apolinario de la Cruz's Cofradia de San Jose, a previous uprising with important religious overtones.
[33] Constantino, A Past Revisited, 264.
[34] For a good account of the reconcentration camps see Glenn Anthony May, Battle for Batangas: A Philippine Province at War (Quezon City, Philippines; New Day Publishers; 1993). For an overall study of disease in the Philippines, as the policy of reconcentrado caused the country to reach an epidemiological flashpoint, see Ken De Bevoise, Agents of Apocalypse: Epidemic Disease in the Colonial Philippines (Princeton, NJ; Princeton University Press; 1995). In brief: the concentration camps produced mass disease outbreaks; people, crammed into incredibly insufficient space were shot if they tried to leave; crops were left unattended and the result was a food crisis that caused mass malnourishment, disease and starvation.
[35] Constantino, A Past Revisited, 264. This claim can be backed by numerous sources. An example from the New York Times, 25 July 1902, Major Edwin Glenn writes, "I found very soon after my arrival ? that every man's hand was against us; that every man, woman and child in the islands was an enemy, and in my best judgment they are today and always will be. Practically every Presidente and other official has been playing double. They organized and were the active members of secret societies, known as the Katipunan.
[36] Doherty to New York Evening Post, 2 October 1906. A remontado was someone who under the Spanish government "took to the woods" to flee payment of tribute or forced labor, someone who left "civilization" to return to nature.
[37] A truly intriguing historic figure, Montalan was an illiterate peasant and a brilliant guerilla strategist. He signed the documents presented to him in Bilibid prison after his arrest with an "X". Abad, Macario Sakay, 93. American sources of all types consistently misspell his name as "Montalon".
[38] Constantino, A Past Revisited, 262. Coats, Philippine Constabulary, 161. Vic Hurley, Jungle Patrol: The Story of the Philippine Constabulary (E.P. Dutton and Co.; New York; 1938), 176. Ramos, Masigla and De Vega had jurisdiction over most of Cavite and eastern Batangas. Felizardo was responsible for the Pasay-Bacoor region of Northern Cavite. Oruga had three officers under him: Col. Villanueva in Batangas, Lt. Col. Vito in the Lake Taal area, and Major Flores in Laguna. Fascinatingly, De Vega had a female officer who served under him, Lt. Apolonia Catra. "She dressed in men's clothing and was well known for her reckless courage." She was killed in combat on 5 March 1905.
[39] Constantino, A Past Revisited, 263.
[40] Coats, Philippine Constabulary, 163-165. Constantino, A Past Revisited, 263. New York Times, 26 January 1905. The NY Times account mentions that Montalan and Felizardo "were aided by two American Negroes". This is the only reference to black deserters joining Sakay, and while there were deserters during the war, blacks were a small percentage and this story seems unlikely. I have found the NY Times to be singularly untrustworthy for this time and subject of research. As a small example, on 24 March 1904, the NY Times reported Sakay killed and never mentioned him again, even when he went to trial and was hanged!
[41] Constantino, A Past Revisited, 263. I have, owing to space limitations, only recounted one of many of Sakay's battles. The history of this movement is replete with ambushes, skirmishes, raids, and plans, including the attempted kidnapping of Alice Roosevelt during her visit to the Philippines.
[42] For an interesting recounting of Bandholtz' forgotten role in shaping Philippine politics and his hand picked and trained protege Manuel Quezon (first president of the Philippine Commonwealth), in remarkably similar fashion to the later efforts of Edward Geary Lansdale with Philippine President Magsaysay, see Michael Cullinane, Quezon and Bandholtz: The Origins of the "Special Relationship", Paper presented for the panel on "Manuel Quezon: 'the good fight' revisited" at the 31st annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, Los Angeles, 1 April 1979. A copy of the paper is available at Cornell University Library.
[43] Dr. Gomez is truly an historical conundrum. In all accounts he looms larger than life: loud, outspokenly pro-independence, a physically impressive man (the opposite of the portrayal of him in Raymond Red's otherwise admirable film Sakay). Gomez assumed leadership of the labor organization Union Obrera Democratica from Isabelo de los Reyes (whose radical socialist ideas earned him the title, "the father of the Philippine left"). Gomez was accused repeatedly of supporting Sakay with Union funds. For a fascinating account of Gomez role in the early Philippine labor movement and the cooptation of labor demands and the malversation of funds that took place after de los Reyes relinquished control, see William H. Scott, Union Obrera Democratica: First Filipino Labor Union, (Quezon City, Philippines; New Day Publishers; 1992). On Gomez culpability in the betrayal of Sakay, see especially the accounts by Constantino, Ileto and Ochosa.
[44] Constantino, A Past Revisited, 266.
[45] Gov. Ide denied this, stating that "no promises as to his litigation have been authorized or made" to Dr. Gomez. This is false, as evidenced by Forbes confidential letter to Taft: "Ide undertook to interpret a trade which Bandholtz has made in regard to reward made for the surrender of certain bandits [sic] in a different sense from the way Bandholtz and his agent [Gomez] understood it, thus practically repudiating an obligation he and I previously authorized Bandholtz to make. I have personally guaranteed to Bandholtz that this difference be made good although it comes to several thousand pesos,?" Italics supplied. Forbes to Taft, 21 September 1906, Forbes Papers, as cited in Bonifacio Salamanca, The Filipino Reaction to American Rule: 1901-1913 (Shoe String Press; 1968).
[46] Abad, Macario Sakay, 42. This was taken from interviews with Villafuerte.
[47] Ileto, Pasyon, 194. Santos, Tatlong Tulisan, 60.
[48] According to Villafuerte's account, Sakay's demands prior to surrender were these: general amnesty for all of Sakay's followers, permission to retain firearms and permission for the leadership to travel abroad. Abad, Macario Sakay, 51.
[49] Ibid, 55-56. Ileto, Pasyon, 194.
[50] Ileto, Pasyon, 194.
[51] The case is a fascinating one. Prosecutors filed charges against Carreon separately under the jurisdiction of Manila rather than Cavite. Throughout the trial Sakay and his companions waited for Gomez to arrive and produce the papers that he had shown them indicating their amnesty upon surrender. He never came. During this time however, he was able to sign passes for people visiting them at Bilibid prison (a privilege not granted to average citizens!). Abad, Macario Sakay, 98-99. The trial was presided over by Ignacio Villamor, who later became Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court. In an intriguing letter to the US head of the Philippine Department of Education, David P. Barrows, Villamor gives him the "anting-antings" (i.e. amulets, on the significance of anting-anting in the Katipunan cf. Ileto, Pasyon, 22-27) of three of "the most noted generals of the revolution, who were convicted by me in Cavite". I. Villamor to D.P. Barrows, 9 October 1909, Philippine Islands, Various Offices, 1901-1923, Carton 25, David P. Barrows papers, BANC MSS C-B 1005, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. I have thoroughly searched all of Barrow's papers at the Bancroft Library, as well as the entirety of the Philippines holdings at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology, where Barrow's "filipi?iana" collection is housed, to no avail. The anting-antings are not to be found. They represent an important material artifact in a long forgotten chapter of Philippine history, and it is fervently to be hoped that they are located.
[52] Ileto, Pasyon, 196.
[53] Abad, Macario Sakay, 101. Unfortunately the original Tagalog is not available.
[54] Bolo; a long single bladed knife used for agricultural purposes, or for want of a better weapon, in peasant uprisings.
[55] The identification paper given to everyone by the Spanish for tax purposes; it was symbolic of colonial rule and was shredded by Bonifacio and his followers in the famous Cry of Balintawak of 1896.

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FILIPINO HEROES: Macario Sakay