Bohol - Guerrilla Money

Bohol is an island province in the central Philippines.

Just prior to the surrender to the Japanese, President Quezon authorized Bohol to issue 150,000 Pesos.

On January 9th, 1943 a “free” provincial government was established in Bohol by a group of guerrilla officers and previous provincial officers who had not surrendered to the Japanese. Conrado D. Marapao was Governor. The previous authorization was used by this provincial government to issue their currency, and in June of 1943 President Quezon authorized an additional 200,000 Pesos. Despite the total limit authorized, over 3 million Pesos were printed before the Japanese forced production to stop.

June 24th, 1944 the Japanese captured the printing press, the printing plates, and tens of thousands of Pesos worth of notes. Some of these were fully printed, many were not. These notes were nonetheless released into circulation. After the war, they were not authorized for redemption, and most were marked as Counterfeit, excess, or some other designation to indicate they were not official releases.

The 5 and 10 Peso notes were extensively counterfeited as well, and many of the samples you find will be these.

Many local issues then appeared, continuing on into 1944 (one into 1945). One significant aspect of some municipal issues is that they were usable in more than one community (as specified on the notes themselves).