The site of the Manila Grand Opera House in 1899 on Calle Dulumbayan (later called Calle Salcedo, now Rizal Avenue) was originally a racetrack where bicycles zoomed around in laps to the entertainment of audience watching a European sport in their country and was called the National Cycle Track. It was owned by N.T. Hashim the track which he bought was part of the San Lazaro Estate which Hashim converted the place into a theater. It was known as the Teatro Nacional and also served as the arena of the Russian Circus Troupe that regularly visited Manila.
In 1905, Governor-General Henry Ide sent Filipino labor leader Dominador Gomez, to speak to the President of Tagalog Republic - General Macario Sakay with an offer of amnesty for him and his men. Part of the offer was the establishment of a Philippine Assembly as a starting point toward eventual Philippine Independence. The offer appealed to General Sakay who dreamed of Philippine independence, freely participating in determining their course as a nation. As a result, General Sakay and his men went out from their Morong Mountain hideout in July of 1906 without realizing it was a trap. He was welcomed in Manila, but while attending a party tendered by the Constabulary chief Col. Henry H. Bandholtz, General Sakay and his chief subordinates were disarmed and arrested. Accused of being a bandit under the Brigandage Act of 1902, he was sentenced to death and hanged on September 13, 1907, accused of the crime against Brigandage Act held that persons refusing to give allegiance to the American government in the Philippines were liable for arrest and execution.
Just a month after the execution of General Sakay on the grounds of Bilibid Prison, in October 16 a block away the Philippine First Assembly was inaugurated at the Manila Grand Opera House. The event was attended both by US Secretary of War William Howard Taft and the new Governor-General James Francis Smith at 9:00 that morning, the 80 delegates-elect of the first Philippine Assembly entered the Grand Opera House, followed by representatives of the American colonial government, members of the Philippine Commission and other military officers Major-General Leonard Wood of the US Army Philippine Division, Brigadier General Clarence Edwards of the Bureau of Insular Affairs. Members of the religious groups, including Apostolic Delegate Monsignor Ambrosio Agius and Bishop Jorge Barlin, as well as local officials like Domindor Gomez and foreign guests.
- ka tony
