Emergency circulating notes were currency printed by the Philippine Commonwealth Government in exile during World War II. These "guerrilla pesos" were printed by local government units and banks using crude inks and materials. Due to the inferior quality of these bills, they were easily mutilated.

The Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic under President José P. Laurel outlawed possession of guerrilla currency and declared a monopoly on the issuance of money and anyone found to possess guerrilla notes could be arrested or even executed.

Prior to the impending invasion of the Philippines by the Empire of Japan and its establishment of the Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic, the Philippine legislature passed an act in December 1941, enabling the production of extra Philippine peso notes for circulation as a precaution of the Philippines being cut off militarily from the United States and European countries. The notes, issued after December 29, 1941, reflected the crisis at the time, and were labeled "Emergency Circulating Notes". They were issued by the Philippine National Bank and the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. In addition to those issues, the Commonwealth government also allowed municipal and provincial authorities to issue notes denominated in centavos and pesos.

When military defeat in the Philippines was inevitable, the U.S. and Philippine authorities, in an effort to prevent economic resources falling into the hands of the Imperial Japanese, dumped 425 tons of centavo and peso coins into Caballo Bay. Although the Imperial Japanese authorities attempted salvage operations by forcing prisoners of war to recover the coins, they sabotaged the operation by pocketing small amounts of individual coins and using underground networks amongst POWs and resistance forces to distribute them for use by U.S. and Filipino forces. Although the influx of smuggled specie helped to provide resistance forces with currency to use, it was nowhere near sufficient, and resistance forces used alternate sources to issue their own currency.

After the Imperial Japanese forces completed their conquest of the Philippines in May 1942, all notes issued by the U.S. and Philippine administrations were outlawed, and their use carried significant risk; those found in possession of these notes would be detained, tortured and summarily executed. The notes were seized and destroyed and disappeared from circulation.

Despite the conditions facing the U.S. and Filipino resistance forces, issuing circulating currency was still needed, at the same time expressing their total resistance to the Japanese-sponsored government, began issuing their own currency. Using any materials available, resistance forces, provincial and municipal authorities all issued distinctive currencies, all denominated in centavos and pesos. Different types of currency were issued by the various resistance forces, provincial and municipal authorities. The provincial issues were authorized by the Philippine National Bank as they were unable to access stocks of notes issued by the bank throughout the war. The note's issue was organized by boards and committees throughout the provinces. Municipal issues were produced by the towns and cities of provinces independent of the government of the Commonwealth. Although the notes carried the promise that they were payable in specie, it was impossible to redeem them for their full face value throughout the war. While some of the notes were made using sophisticated equipment and high quality materials, it was still crudely produced, engraved by hand using stamps made from rubber or woodblocks, ink either made in the field or salvaged from supply depots, and paper scavenged from many different sources. The notes were labeled with the names of the provincial or municipal authority responsible for its issue, and were signed by local authorities responsible for their issue. Despite the crude production of the notes, they were still accepted throughout the country over the fiat peso used by the Japanese-sponsored government. Their value as both as a mechanism of exchange and as propaganda tools were significant enough for the Imperial Japanese to ban their use, responding violently to those possessing such notes. Torture and executions were not uncommon, and those individuals could be identified simply by possessing such notes.

After the end of World War II following the surrender of Imperial Japan, the Commonwealth government issued Republic Act No. 369, to redeem all of the currency issued by the various resistance forces, municipal and provincial authorities. They were divided into two categories: "Pre-surrender" and "Post-surrender". The former referred to the currency issued during the period commencing with the invasion of the Philippines and the occupation of any island or province by Imperial Japanese forces. This type of currency was considered to have been maintained under tighter control and were considered valuable. They were redeemed at par (100% face value). The latter referred to the many types of currency issued by the resistance forces, municipal and provincial authorities. Republic Act No. 369 provided a set of redemption for this category:

Counterfeit emergency circulating notes were excluded from being exchanged.