Captain Nieves Fernandez was the only known female guerrilla leader from the Philippines. Before the war, she was a school teacher. On November 7, 1944, she showed U.S. Army Private Andrew Lupiba, who was also from the Philippines, how she used her long knife to quietly kill Japanese soldiers during their occupation of Leyte Island.
Captain Nieves and her group of Waray guerrillas fought the Japanese in Tacloban. Known as a great marksman, she trained her men well in fighting and making simple weapons. She led her group from the front and helped them defeat over 200 Japanese soldiers, even though she had only 110 men. The Japanese army placed a reward of 10,000 Pesos for her capture, but she was never caught.
The main leader of the resistance in Leyte was Ruperto Kangleon, a former Filipino soldier. After the country fell, he escaped the Japanese and formed a united guerrilla group in Leyte called the Black Army. They pushed the Japanese out of the main parts of the province and pushed them toward the coastal areas of Southern Leyte.
Kangleon’s guerrillas gave important information to American leaders like Wendell Fertig and helped with the Leyte Landing and the Battle of Leyte. The guerrillas in Leyte played a big role not only in fighting the Japanese but also in protecting and helping the people living on the island.