Macario Sakay y de León was born in the Tondo district of Manila in the late 19th Century. It was a working class area, low on the social hierarchy. Sakay spent his early years as a tailor, a barber (though later became famous for his long hair), and an actor, but became a Katipunan revolutionary and rose quickly to become leader of Tondo's Dapitan Council.
He fought in the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire, and continued to fight even after that war, against the colonial American rule. In 1902 he declared himself Supreme President of the Republic of Katagalugan. In 1905 he negotiated a surrender under condition of amnesty, but was betrayed, arrested, and sentenced to death. He hanged in 1907.
Even with his final words, he spoke of revolution:
"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"