Sakay is a barber from Tondo, Manila who joins Andres Bonifacio’s revolutionary secret society Katipunan. He fights during the Philippine Revolution against Spain and later in the Philippine-American War. Sakay remains in the field even after the capture of President Emilio Aguinaldo and the fall of the First Philippine Republic. He is captured, but is released during an amnesty.
Sakay then takes to the mountains to revive the Katipunan, together with Francisco Carreon, Julian Montalan, Cornelio Felizardo and other rebel leaders. He proclaims himself as General and President of the “Tagalog Republic” (Republika ng Katagalugan), and engages the United States Army and the Philippine Constabulary in guerrilla warfare. On occasion he is aided by talisman-wearing cultist warriors.
After years of fighting, Sakay is convinced to surrender by Filipino labor leader Dr. Dominador Gomez, who argues that the establishment of a Philippine National Assembly, instead of armed resistance, is the soundest option towards attaining Filipino independence.
On the understanding that the government had offered amnesty, Sakay and his officers come down from the mountains. However, Invited to a reception in town, they are arrested by the government. They are tried and convicted for brigandage. Sakay and Colonel Lucio de Vega are hanged, while Montalan and others receive life imprisonment.
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