50 Pesos

The Philippine National Bank operated branch emergency issues during the Japanese occupation, and this Iloilo note is one of the more localized examples of that wartime scramble to maintain a functioning currency in the Visayas. The PNB's Iloilo branch had been issuing provincial notes well before the war, but the 1943 series emerged specifically because the Japanese-sponsored fiat currency — the "Mickey Mouse" peso — was already losing credibility in the provinces faster than in Manila.

Guerrilla and civilian distrust of occupation scrip drove demand for any locally backed alternative. Survival rate for Iloilo branch notes is low; most were deliberately destroyed by retreating or hiding Filipino officials to prevent Japanese seizure.