Macario Sakay

Macario Sakay
General Macario Sakay
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	Macario Sakay y de León c. 1869/1878 Tondo, Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Died	13 September 1907 (aged 29 or 37) Manila, Philippine Islands
Political party	Katipunan
Profession	Revolutionary Merchant
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Macario Sakay y de León (c. 1870/8 – September 13, 1907) was a Filipino general who took part in the 1896 Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire and in the Philippine-American War. After the war was declared over by the United States in 1902, Sakay continued resistance and the following year became President of the Republic of Katagalugan.

Sakay was born around 1869 or 1878 along Tabora Street, Tondo, in the City of Manila. He first worked as an apprentice in a kalesa (carriage) manufacturing shop. He was also a tailor and a stage actor, performing in a number of plays including Principe Baldovino, Doce Pares de Francia, and Amante de la Corona. An original member of the Katipunan movement, of which he joined in 1894, he fought alongside Andrés Bonifacio against the Spanish throughout the Philippine Revolution. 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.

Sakay was one of the founders of the Partido Nacionalista (unrelated to the present Nacionalista Party founded in 1907), which sought to achieve Philippine independence through legal means. The party appealed to the Philippine Commission, but the Commission passed the Sedition Law, which prohibited any form of propaganda advocating independence. Sakay thus took up arms again.

Contrary to popular belief, the Philippine resistance to American rule did not end with the capture of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, and several forces remained at large. One of these forces was led by Sakay.