Women of War
Captain Nieves Fernandez: The only known Filipino female guerilla leader
Captain Nieves Fernandez formerly a school teacher, shows US Army Pvt. Andrew Lupiba (also originally from the Philippines) how she used her long knife to silently kill Japanese soldiers during the Japanese occupation of Leyte Island.
Image taken by Stanley Troutman, Mabuhay Las Piñas, Leyte Island, Philippines.
Waray guerrillas under Captain Nieves Fernandez, fought the Japanese in Tacloban. Being infamously known as a crack shot, Nieves extensively trained her men in combat skills and the making of improvised weaponry. She led her men in the front and managed to take out over 200 Japanese soldiers in the war with only 110 men. The Imperial Japanese Army posted a 10,000 Pesos reward on her head in the hopes of capturing her but to no avail.
The main commander of the resistance movement in Leyte however, was Ruperto Kangleon, a former Filipino soldier turned resistance fighter and leader. After the fall of the country, he successfully escaped capture by the Japanese before establishing a united guerrilla front In Leyte. He and his men, the Black Army, were successful in pushing the Japanese from the mainland province and further into the coastlands of Southern Leyte. Kangleon’s guerrillas provided intelligence for the American guerrilla leaders such as Wendell Fertig, and assisted in the subsequent Leyte Landing and the Battle of Leyte soon after. The guerrillas in Leyte were also very instrumental not only in the opposition against Japanese rule, but also in the safety and aid of the civilians living in the island.
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