50 Centavos

During the Japanese occupation of Leyte, the Philippine municipal governments — unable to access Manila-issued currency and cut off from the Commonwealth treasury — improvised their own emergency scrip. Matalom, Bato, Hilongos, Hindang, and Inopacan each issued notes independently, though the series is typically grouped together because the authorization, format, and circumstances of issue were nearly identical across all five municipalities.

These Leyte municipal issues are among the most fragile surviving occupation-period scrip from the Philippines. Printed on whatever paper was locally available, many examples show accelerated deterioration — foxing, brittleness, and ink bleed are endemic to the type, not signs of unusual wear.