Those Sneaky Japanese
Before the Japanese invaded the Philippines, they did their spadework. Imperial Japan had the very sneaky tactic of sending immigrants into our young country, and having them work as different types of shop owners. They were very friendly, constantly asking questions like, "how's business?" and "how old is your son now?" and "aren't you related to...?" and "any news from your father who's in the armed forces?"
When they finally invaded, many of these unassuming spies were contacted. They provided lists and some even oversaw the rounding up of scions from the prominent families, family members with ties to the military, and people with important jobs and useful intelligence.
Interestingly enough, this little bit came from an American who lived in the Philippines at the time and experienced this first-hand.
Benjo-Boy
My grandfather's nickname was "Benjo" which is Japanese for bathroom. He knew its meaning, being quite well versed in Japanese (he had a gift for language), and wore it with pride. During the war, he had been assigned as the "benjo boy", the one assigned to clean up the bathroom. Apparently, the Japanese felt sorry for him and so gave him greater latitude than the other prisoners in that Fort.
Naturally, he used this surprising relaxation of rules to send messages back and forth between the imprisoned soldiers to their families (and perhaps other interested parties), endearing him to many of them.
From my father and ninong's recollections of my lolo's history.
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