Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units (Wa Chi Guerrillas)
Chinese ethnic guerrillas could be found throughout the lowland provinces near Manila on the island of Luzon throughout the war. These guerrilla units were known as the Ampaw Unit led by Colonel Chua Sy Tiao and the 48th Squadron also known as the Wa Chi (other resources spell their unit as Wha Chi) founded May 19th, 1942. Colonel Chua Sy Tiao led the Ampaw which were initially an intelligence guerrilla subunit of Marking’s guerrillas. Their name, Ampaw, translates to the street food snack “puff rice” and became the nickname of the unit because of their undercover spy network in Manila disguised as puff rice street vendors. The Ampaw was founded in Antipolo, Rizal (the Sierra Madre Mountain region) and made up particularly of mestizo Filipinos who had Chinese ancestry who were nicknamed Chilipinos.