By BC Cook
SHE wore revealing clothing, but not to increase her sex appeal. She always smiled and warmed the hearts of others which made everyone want to be close to her, but not too close. The young Filipina, Josefina “Joey” Guerrero, led a high-stakes life as a spy in the Philippines during the Second World War. A socialite in Manila before the conflict, a spy during it, and a celebrity afterward, few people know her story today.
Joey Guerrero grew up in the province, raised by her grandparents after her mother and father died. Later she was sent to Manila to live with an uncle where she caught the eye of a young physician whom she married.
After the Japanese invaded, many Filipinos and Americans were placed in prison camps. Joey often visited the camps, bringing in food and medical supplies and carrying out information passed from prisoners who listened to guards that talked too much. On one such mission she hid a secret message in a hollowed out piece of fruit. She was stopped by a Japanese soldier who looked over her basket, took the largest fruit and went his way. Joey was smart enough not to hide anything in the biggest piece. The information helped the Filipino underground and eventually Joey was asked to join their ranks.
When allied forces invaded Luzon in 1944 she volunteered to work as an official spy for the Americans. She carried information back and forth across the lines and was never searched. Once as she walked past two Japanese guards, one of them pulled on her ponytail. If he would have pulled on the ribbon in her hair he would have found a secret message written on it.
Later she mapped out minefields the Japanese placed in an area the Allies intended to attack. She identified the mines, wrote them on the map and taped the map to her back. Walking through the lines she was briefly stopped by the Japanese but they soon let her go without a body search. The map was poorly concealed. Even a quick search would have uncovered it, yet she was not found out.
The Allies later credited Joey with saving hundreds of lives. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm, the highest award for a civilian, and after the war she moved to America.
What made her so successful? How did she slip through the battle lines with ease, delivering much-needed information and supplies? Why did no one ever stop her, search her, quiz her? She had leprosy. That is why she wore revealing clothing, not to show off her curves but to reveal her sores, and the Japanese were extremely fearful of leprosy. They would see her sores and immediately let her go. They never looked under her clothes or even asked where she was going. For Joey, the best place to hide was in plain sight and that is what she did so successfully.
Dr. BC Cook taught history for thirty years and is a Director and Pacific historian at Sealark Exploration (sealarkexploration.org). He currently lives in Hawaii.
