PHILIPPINE
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
MANILA
RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE
THE RENAMING OF CAMP
ELDRIDGE IN LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA
TO CAMP GENERAL MACARIO SAKAY
WHEREAS, nearly 106 years after the execution by the
American administration in the Philippines of the Revolutionary General and
President of the Republika ng Katagalugan, Macario de Leon Sakay on 13
September 1907 at the Old Bilibid in Manila, many Filipinos still subscribe to
the American perspective that Macario Sakay was a thief and a bandit despite
attempts by some Filipino historians to correct this notion.
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay was a true patriot. A hero born of the people in Tondo, Manila in
1870. He worked as a blacksmith, tailor
and a barber.
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| Macario de Leon Sakay |
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay, like his friend Andres
Bonifacio, the Father of the Philippine Revolution, used his artistic gifts as
theatre actor in the service of the people, actor in plays such as Prince
Baldovino, Doce Pares de Francia, and Amante de la
Corona.
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay, as one of the early members
of the Kataastaasang Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan founded
by Bonifacio which spearheaded the revolution, led the victories at San Mateo and
established his headquarters in Marikina and Montalban.
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay, despite the murder of the
Supremo Andres Bonifacio, continued fighting the Spaniards and the new
colonizers, the Americans. He was jailed
for his resistance but was granted an amnesty.
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay, as a true believer of the
legal and democratic processes, became one of the founders of the short-lived
old Partido Nacionalista advocating
for Philippine Independence. The
implementation of the Sedition Law which made their party an illegal
organization forced him to take up arms again in 1902. Vowing that he and his men will not cut their
hair until Inang Bayan had achieved
freedom, the length of their hair became an icon of resistance and their
unfulfilled hopes and dreams.
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay, who established the
Republika ng Katagalugan after the surrender of President General Emilio
Aguinaldo and became its president, wanted to go back to the original
principles of the Katipunan—Kapatiran, Kabutihan, Kaginhawaan, tunay na
Kalayaan. With this he created a large
following in the Tagalog region with headquarters at Mt. San Cristobal near Mt.
Banahaw protected by a millenarian religious sect. Eventually he transferred his headquarters to
the mountains of Morong, a continuation of the “ilihan” ancestral tradition of
resistance on the mountains.
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay was duped by the Americans
through an ilustrado that he will be given an amnesty, and that his demand for
a legislative assembly and a university for Filipinos will be granted, he and
his men went down from the mountains, only to be arrested, charged and
detained.
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay, despite the mass
demonstrations and support for him in front the gates of Malacañang Palace and
favourable testimonies from fellow revolutionaries like Pio del Pilar, was
sentenced to death for banditry, murder, rape and kidnapping.
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay, firm to end that he did not
surrender and he did not commit any crime, uttered his last words in front of
the gallows as a declaration of his true intentions for Inang Bayan: “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 are not
bandits and robbers, as the Americans have accused us, but members of the
revolutionary force that defended our mother country, the Philippines!
Farewell! Long live the Republic and may our independence be born in the
future! Long live the Philippines!”
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay’s fight which lasted until
1906, was still part of the Philippine-American War, correcting the impression
that this struggle was ended with General Aguinaldo’s surrender in 1901, and
the American declaration of the end of the war on 4 July 1902. The Philippine American War started during
the first shot fired by the Americans against Filipinos on 4 February 1899 at
Sta. Mesa, Manila and ended during the battle between the Americans and the
Tausug community on 1913 atop Bud Bagsak in June 1913. Considered as the first Vietnam-like War, the
atrocities and aggression of American volunteers in this war resulted to an
estimated 200,000 Filipinos dead.
WHEREAS, General Macario Sakay, despite overwhelming
accounts of his love of country and immense contribution to the struggle for
freedom—being the general who fought for the longest time in the Philippine
Revolution and the Philippine-American War—had no major streets in the
Philippines named after him. This is an
indication of the lack of recognition to the heroism of this great hero.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, as it is hereby resolved,
by the PHILIPPINE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, to respectfully recommend to the
Department of National Defense through Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, and the
Philippine Veterans Affairs Office through Administrator Lt. Gen. Ernesto G.
Carolina (ret.), the naming of Camp Eldridge in Los Baños, Laguna as Camp
General Macario Sakay not only because of Sakay’s unsung heroism but also
because the mountain where he camped—Mt. San Cristobal, falls under the
jurisdiction of the provinces of Quezon and Laguna. Therefore a camp in one of the most active provinces
of the Philippine Revolution, Laguna, named after General Macario Sakay, is
only but fitting.
BE IT RESOLVED, FURTHER, that the association extends its
commendation to LtCol. Ronald Jess S. Alcudia Inf (GSC) PA, for spearheading
this advocacy to seek institutional support to rename Camp Eldridge to Camp
General Macario Sakay.
BE IT RESOLVED FURTHERMORE, that the association extends
its gratitude to Undersecretary Carolina for forwarding the abovementioned
advocacy to the association for its opinion.
BE IT RESOLVED FURTHERMORE, that the association humbly
recommends that the renaming happen at the soonest possible time within the
year to coincide with the year of the 150th birth anniversary of
Andres Bonifacio, whose Katipunan brotherhood Sakay was an early member.
BE IT RESOLVED FURTHERMORE, that the association proposes a
symposium where the association can be invited by the Philippine Veterans
Affairs Office to talk about General Macario Sakay on the forthcoming 106th
anniversary of his execution on 13 September 2013 at Camp Eldridge itself or at
any other date and place that can be agreed upon.
BE IT RESOLVED FINALLY, that the text of this Resolution be
uploaded to the official website of the association (pha1955.blogspot.com) and
be proliferated through social media for the information of the public and for
its wide dissemination.
UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED by the BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE
PHILIPPINE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION present during its board meeting and oath
taking at the offices of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in
the historic Intramuros, City of Manila, Philippines, this Fourth day of July,
in the Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Thirteen.
(Sgd)
LUIS CAMARA DERY
President
Attested:
(Sgd) JONATHAN
CAPULAS BALSAMO
Secretary
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NCCA Executive Director Emelita Almosara officiates the Oath
of Office of the Newly Elected Officers of the Philippine Historical
Association (PHA) on July 4. (From left
to right) Almosara, Dr. Luis Camara Dery of De La Salle University Manila as
PHA President, Dr. Evelyn Songco of the University of Santo Tomas as Vice
President; Jonathan Balsamo of Museo Valenzuela as Secretary; and Dr. Evelyn
Miranda, retired Professor from University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, as
treasurer. Not in the photo are Board
Members: Dr. Celestina Boncan of UP
Manila; Dr. Estrellita Muhi, retired Professor of the University of the East; and
Prof. Jerome Ong of UP Manila. The PHA
is a professional association of historians in the Philippines founded in 1955
by a group of prominent historians that include Encarnacion Alzona, Gabriel
Fabella, Gregorio Zaide, Nicolas Zafra, Celedonio Resurreccion, Teodoro Agoncillo
and Esteban de Ocampo (Photo from The Sunday Times Magazine, July 28, 2013, p. b3).
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Ponente: Xiao Chua, P.R.O. of the Association
