Since Brother Manuel Enicola had been a court stenographer previously, the army invited him to be stenographer for the court-martial in that area. Thinking that this was an opportunity to give a ‘testimony before kings and rulers,’ he went to the camp to explain why he could not accept the position offered. (Matt. 10:18) This resulted in his being imprisoned in the Regimental Detention Camp, where he was fed only rice broth. Later, even this was not forthcoming, so that the prisoners took large gulps of water to ease the pangs of hunger. Signs of the American forces’ arrival saved this brother from a worse fate, and charges were never filed against him. Later, he studied at Gilead School in New York and for a time served as a member of the Bethel family in Quezon City.

Over in Cebu City, the brothers encountered much difficulty right from the beginning of the war. Brother Leodegario Barlaan and Sister Natividad Santos, who later became his wife, were pioneering in Cebu along with several others at the time. They were accused by the government authorities of being fifth columnists and were imprisoned for five days in Tuburan, Cebu. Samples of their literature were sent to army headquarters, but a telegram came back ordering the release of Jehovah’s Witnesses, thus clearing them of this false charge. They were told not to witness to the people, but the brothers ‘obeyed God rather than men’ and carried on with their work, using their good supply of the book Children and the booklet End of Axis Powers​—Comfort All That Mourn. (Acts 5:29) Two weeks later, they were arrested again and imprisoned, this time in Cebu City. Although the officer in charge was kind, he explained that if they were allowed to proclaim their message publicly, they would discourage others from fighting the war. However, when the Japanese began bombing the city, all prisoners were released. So again these Witnesses were free.

Around the end of 1942, Brother Barlaan and Sister Santos were arrested again, this time by the Filipino guerrillas who tried to get the brothers to sign an affidavit stating that they were Japanese spies. Upon refusing to do this, these faithful Christians were given a mock trial, were sent to the guerrilla headquarters and then were moved around to various guerrilla camps for a period of eight months, doing forced labor. On one occasion they were required to sing a patriotic song, but they sang a Kingdom song instead. In July 1943, these persevering Witnesses were released, having finally convinced the guerrillas that they were neutral Christians, not Japanese spies.

The brothers often ran into difficulties due to wartime pressures. In Malaybalay, Bukidnon, at army headquarters, Brother Juliano Hermosa was arrested on a spy charge, but was later released. Later the entire pioneer group was arrested on the same charge and imprisoned for a few days in Gingoog. Brother Solano of Manila was with them when they were arrested on that occasion. Again, they were released.

In making their way eastward, the Witnesses finally arrived at what was to become their wartime headquarters in Buenavista, Agusan. Here again they soon found themselves behind bars, although the guards were amazed to see the joy of the brothers as they sang songs of praise to Jehovah. The Witnesses spoke about the truth to some of the guards and a number of these showed considerable interest in the message. At this time Brother Daclan was interviewed by American officers and he made a signed statement in answer to 75 questions put to him. Evidently this information was forwarded to Australia, since not long afterwards word was reportedly received from General MacArthur’s headquarters there that Jehovah’s Witnesses were not guilty of fifth column activity. So, they were released. This was in the spring of 1942.

By this time there were about 100 publishers in the Buenavista “Company” and they divided into four smaller groups. The Children book was studied weekly, and service meetings also were arranged, although these consisted mainly of talks from the Society’s publications and encouragement to keep on declaring the good news. When violence broke out between the opposing war forces, the Witnesses moved the meetings from place to place, sometimes meeting in the hills to avoid the fighting. Since they loved to sing, Bible poems were composed by the brothers and were set to Protestant hymns to serve as Kingdom songs. An orchestra was arranged by Antonio Yangzon, and Francisco Borja taught the brothers to sing in four-part harmony.

In addition to the work done by the pioneers, at times the publishers in Buenavista witnessed in distant territories. On one occasion, Benjamin Datig led a group of thirty brothers to visit the people on the island of Camiguin. This required a 100-kilometer (60-mile) walk to Talisayan, followed by a boat ride. Since in many families no one was left behind to care for the young children, they were taken along, being carried by their parents. During field service in the various towns of Camiguin Island, the Witnesses were arrested several times by the guerrillas. Moreover, when these Kingdom proclaimers returned to the mainland, the entire group, including the small children, were imprisoned in Talisayan for eight days.

Because it was learned that the names of prominent brothers, due to their neutral stand, were on the wanted lists of the Filipino guerrillas, the brothers stopped using their real names and took on Biblical names instead. Brother Daclan was called “Caleb,” while others had names like “Job,” “Shadrach” and “Meshach.” These became so common that they rarely used their real names, and even to this day the brothers of that time often recall one another best by their Biblical names.

As in the rest of the country, the year 1944 saw an intensifying of the fighting between the Japanese forces and the guerrillas. This, in turn, brought much suffering to the brothers in northern Mindanao, since they were hated by both sides. Javier Pauya, called “Job” by the brothers, was cruelly tortured by the guerrillas and died not too long after this of illness caused by the mistreatment. In Nasipit, Agusan, Santiago Sacro and his wife Dominga were killed by the Japanese and their bodies were burned along with their home. For a whole night, Isidro Monta was tied to a tree crawling with stinging red ants, but he survived and did not compromise. Other brothers were stripped naked and severely beaten when they refused to carry bullets for the guerrilla forces.