Commander Rowe’s Statement on Luis Licopa’s Work
The Licopa Guerrilla Unit was a guerrilla outfit under the command of one Luis Licopa and operated out of Lemery, Batangas. In this document1, Lt. Commander George Rowe of the United States Navy, in charge of intelligence in the Philippines in World War II, attests to the work of Luis Licopa in aid of the liberation of Luzon.
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C E R T I F I C A T E
The undersigned, a Lieutenant Commander U. S. Navy Reserve, was on active duty as Commanding Officer of an Intelligence Unit operating on the Island of Mindoro and Luzon from July 1944 to include March 15, 1945.
Early in October, a Luis Licopa of Bauan, Batangas reported to my Headquarters in Mindoro with Intelligence information on Jap military activities in Southern Luzon. His statements were checked and proven true. He made no extravagant claims of a large Unit under his command but did mention having a serviceable organization available in Batangas.
He volunteered for service and went back and forth to Batangas several times. Each time, his mission was successfully accomplished and he proved to be of considerable value to my headquarters.
I do not know the strength of his Unit but believe he must have had at least 60 men on active duty at all times.
Experience in this work has indicated that to keep this number of men active, it is quite possible that a reserve and indirect support was necessary, thus, it is quite possible that a total strength of around three hundred or more men might now be claimed in all sincerity.
Luis Licopa’s work was of value to my mission and proved helpful to the liberation forces.
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