Although, at first, the work was concentrated in and around Manila, the need to expand into the provincial areas was soon seen. An early pioneer, Pablo Bautista, had done some work in the provinces of southern and central Luzon in 1933 and 1934, but it was primarily from 1935 onward that expansion took place outside Manila. The branch director encouraged all who could do so to enter the pioneer service so as to witness in the untouched areas of the Philippines.

Many who became pioneers in those days did so without having been baptized. Even the branch director, Brother Dos Santos, was not baptized until October of 1935. It was not until the book Riches appeared in 1936 that baptism began to be given the proper emphasis in the Philippines. On page 145 of that book it was made clear that “submitting to be immersed in water is an act of obedience illustrating how one has fully put himself in the hands of the Lord, and therefore baptism is necessary and proper to be performed by all who have agreed to do the will of God.”

Pioneer groups were organized and sent out first to various parts of Luzon Island. Among these were the Bautista and Lacson families, Brothers Salvador Liwag, Jose Medina, Virginio Cruz and Benjamin Sampana and Sisters Elvira Alinsod and Purificacion Bennett. They spread out from Manila, covering the territory speedily, since more emphasis then was given to distributing our literature from house to house than to developing the interest. Yet, if a person showed a sheeplike disposition, the brothers would stay in his home for several hours to teach him the truths from God’s Word.

Later in the 1930’s, the pioneer ranks were swelled by others who learned the truth and saw the urgent need to proclaim the good news. One of these individuals was Isabelo Taeza. He recalls that the pioneers in his group in northern Luzon spent from 250 to 280 hours each month in field service, far surpassing the required 150 hours. Showing the wholehearted devotion of these early pioneers, most of them new in the truth, Brother Taeza says: “We walked an average of 80 to 100 kilometers [50 to 60 miles] a week witnessing up and down the mountains of Bontoc and along the Abra River.” As far as the pioneers were concerned, some of the tribal mountain folk ate unfamiliar foods such as unskinned frogs. So, the full-time proclaimers of the Kingdom message often brought along molasses to sustain themselves. When funds ran low, Brother Taeza, a family man at the time, sold part of his farmland and personal property so as to be able to keep on pioneering.

REACHING THE VISAYAS AND MINDANAO

Once the opening up of our work in Luzon was under way, Brothers Salvador Liwag and Jose Medina were assigned to spread the Kingdom message for the first time in the Visayas and Mindanao. They started in Cebu City. While they were witnessing on the ground floor of the Student Center building there, a Presbyterian pastor, who had just finished religious services on an upper floor, engaged them in a heated discussion and finally threw their literature bags outside in anger. One of the pastor’s “flock,” a man by the name of Florencio Udog, observed this and noticed the Scriptural arguments presented by the pioneers. So he approached them and obtained the booklet Who Shall Rule the World? Later, he took all the books they had.

After leaving Cebu City, the pioneers moved on to Bacolod City on Negros Island. There they met up with Brother Narciso Samson who had moved there from Manila to do secular work. While in Bacolod City the three brothers waited until the early morning hours of June 3, 1935 (June 2 in the United States), to hear the broadcast of Brother Rutherford’s lecture “Government” beamed directly from Washington, D.C., U.S.A. They were thrilled to hear the discourse clearly. Back in Manila the branch director and other brothers went to a radio studio to hear the same broadcast, but were unable to hear clearly due to static interference. In San Pablo City, on Luzon Island, another group of pioneers heard the broadcast that morning. This truly made the brothers in the Philippines feel more closely united with Jehovah’s people earth wide at that time when they were so few.