GUERILLA CURRENCY IN THE PHILIPPINES DURING THE WAR

The Guerilla money in the Philippines during WW2

 

If you think money is hard to find now a days, think of the dark days during the Japanese occupation.Above is a sample of the money they were using during those days..Read the following story from a historical article..

There was hardly a corner of the Philippines in which guerilla groups did not flourish, although ill-equipped, ill fed and living in daily confrontation with death. Financing the guerilla resistance played an important role during the war and a large variety of paper money was issued in each province, Pangasinan included. In fact, the incredible number of notes issued indicated indicated the faith and courage the Filipinos had in the future. No printing presses, little paper and the lack of ink were just a few of the problems faced in producing these notes. Wood blocks, vegetable dye and scrap paper were used to prepare a wide variety of notes that became widely accepted as legal currency.

Instant Death

It took courage for the Filipinos then to accept these guerilla notes. To be caught by the japanese in possesion of these outlawed notes meant extreme torture or instant death. And to refuse these notes from fellow Filipinos was taken as a sign of collaboration with the Japanese, and somehow, collaborators have a strange way of dissapearing. Either way, these notes represented a signed death warranty to the bearer.

After the war

The remainder of the war was recorded in the history books. McArthur came back as promised. It is to the large credit of  the Philippine and American governments that a large percentage of the guerilla currency was redeemed during after war, in most cases, dollar for dollar. Naturally, not all of the notes were turned in. Because of the death of many Filipinos, the notes they hid became forgotten. To these day, small hoards may still exist in some cave or any kind of hiding place.--#