first step toward Filipino independence. Sakay agreed to end his resistance on the condition that a general amnesty be granted to his men, that they be permitted to carry firearms, and that he and his officers be permitted to leave the country. Gómez assured Sakay that these conditions would be acceptable to the Americans, and Sakay's emissary, General León Villafuerte, obtained agreement to them from the American Governor-General. Sakay believed that the struggle had shifted to constitutional means, and that the establishment of the assembly was a means to win independence. As a result, he surrendered on 14 July 1906, descending from the mountains on the promise of an amnesty for him and his officials, and the formation of a Philippine Assembly composed of Filipinos that would serve as the "gate of freedom". With Villafuerte, Sakay travelled to Manila, where they were welcomed and invited to receptions and banquets. One invitation came from the Constabulary Chief, American Colonel Harry H. Bandholtz, to a party in Cavite hosted by the acting governor Colonel Louis J. Van Schaick on July 17; it was a trap. Sakay and his principal lieutenants were disarmed and arrested while the party was in progress. At his trial, Sakay was accused of bandolerismo "under the Brigandage Act of Nov. 12, 1902, which interpreted all acts of armed resistance to American rule as banditry." The American colonial Supreme Court of the Philippines upheld the decision. Sakay was convicted and sentenced to death, and hanged on 13 September 1907. Before his death, he made the following statement: He was buried at Manila North Cemetery later that day. Legacy A life-sized statue of Sakay was unveiled at the Plaza Morga in Tondo, by the Manila Historical Heritage Commission on 13 September 2008, the 101st anniversary of his death. That same month, the Senate adopted two separate resolutions honouring Sakay's life and his fellow freedom fighters for their contribution to the cause of independence. Camp General Macario Sakay in Los Baños, Laguna was named after the general in January 2016, when Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Hernando Iriberri issued General Order No. 30, changing the camp's name from Camp Eldridge, a name the camp had been given during the American occupation a century prior. In popular culture Sakay was noted for keeping long hair. His name is used in the Philippines to refer to persons needing a