Guerrilla Money

A history of WWII Philippines currency

Ilocos Norte

Ilocos Norte is a province in the northwest corner of Luzon Island.

Governor Roque B. Ablan requested 100,000 Pesos be air dropped into Ilocos Norte in March of 1942. President Quezon instead authorized the printing of 550,000 Pesos in emergency notes (including a 50,000 Pesos “Relief Fund”).

Using this authorization, a Currency Committee was formed, which consisted of Gov. Ablan as Chairman, Baldomero Perez as Provincial Treasurer, and Roman O. Moreno as Provincial Auditor.

Notes were mimeographed from hand-typed master stencil sheets, with the front and back of two notes printed per sheet. These were then cut apart and glued together. The first series notes were then hand signed, but the signatures were mimeographed with the rest of the note after that. After gluing the notes together, they were stamped with the denomination in purple. There were two sized stamps – 20 mm high and 25 mm high.

Each separate issue listed below was authorized on the date listed, and a certain amount was printed, but not always at the time they were authorized. The “series” seems a little inconsistent because, well, it was. There were some mistakes made in the numbering of the series, and several serial numbers were either duplicated or missed entirely.

After the USAFFE surrender, the Japanese government ramped up their efforts at capturing Gov. Ablan, and eliminating his free government. A lot of the stories about torture and death for owning/using guerrilla notes come from this area.

On February 13th, 1945, Laoang was liberated by the guerrilla 15th Infantry, USAFIP. The next day a Military Provisional Government was formed. Once this happened, they authorized use of the Ilocos Norte notes. Due to massive counterfeiting, the notes in circulation were called in for verification. The approximately 430,000 Pesos worth of notes that were verified were all stamped “REGISTERED“, and redeemed for Victory notes in June, 1945. After redemption, the notes were stamped “PAID“.

Counterfeits are fairly easy to identify, as the original typewriter used to create the master stencil sheets did not have the Peso symbol (₱), so a standard “P” was used for the border. Most counterfeits also have a “REGISTERED” stamp that was faked.

Municipal notes:

    <em>There are no known municipal issues by this province.</em>

Provincial notes:

  • March 1942. First series. Hand signed.
  • April 1st, 1942. Second series. Printed signatures.
  • April 15th. Third series.

I do not have any scans from this series.

  • May 4th, 1942. Fourth series.
  • May 12th, 1942. Fourth series.

I do not have any scans from this series.

  • May 15th, 1942. Second series.
  • May 20th, 1942. Various series printed on notes.
  • Two text varieties available – “Redeemable after the war” or just “after the war” on the last line. Same issue as above.
  • June 6th, 1942.
  • June 15th, 1942.

This issue was printed after the initial 500,000 Pesos had been depleted, so it was based off the 50,000 Pesos “Relief Fund” that President Quezon had authorized for civilian relief. The text on the back of these notes states that redemption will be by the Commonwealth Government.