those back buds wont sprout unless you cut near them. young vines usually do not branch. even when there are buds present. so branching for philos is not really an option, unless they do it themselves, that is :) voluntarily. i'd say it's a rare occurrence. if you have insects in the soil i'am afraid nothing but systemic will get rid of them. you might try submerging the whole plant ( pot and all leaves) in warm water with some 3% peroxide (1tsp per qt) and a alittle dish soap for 30 min. it will help certainly to reduce populations. and the philo can take it provided your soil is not total mud and will drain quickly. put some paper-towels on soil surface to prevent soil from getting out and tie a plastic bag around the pot and close to the trunk - the water will get thru the top holes, but the soil will stay inside. the bubles need to escape from the top hold the pot down. you'll need a good bucket for this. might put a plate on top too - or smth to keep the whole submerged completely. when done, it's good to cut a hole in the bottom of plastic before you lift it. the water will drain down as you lift - no soil spilled.

my first thought is to wonder.. since youve only had it a month.. what happened to it before you got them??? .. we will never have that answer ... unless you have a seller that you can ask ... meaning other than bigbox ... then i wonder how cold it was in december.. when you carried it out of the store to your car etc ... was there a cold event.. minor.. in that we are just seeing the result now ... if it were me.l. i would water properly ... letting it near dry before watering again .. and see what the new growth looks like ... and if it comes out fine.. there is nothing currently to do ... its severely stressed.. its not hungry... fert is not a response ... and repotting will just stress it more ... so that is for spring if you wish .. water properly.. and ignore it for another month and lets see what happens... report back plz ... and.. btw.. even a damaged leaf can convert light into energy .. so no matter how ugly they get.. as long as there is some green leave them there.. and when they are all yellow.. lop them off ... ken ps: with that ceiling.. im wonder if this is a sun room.. and how cold it gets in there at night in winter??? ... it might not be too cold for your other plants ... but we dont know if this one came from a cozy greenhouse and the temps are a bit out of its comfort zone.. when you brought it home ...

pic of the whole plant plz... how many leaves of the total is it??? where is it.. how do you water.. how much sun does it get.. what kind of pot is it in.. when did you last change media.. what happened a few months back.. that was different than usual ... give us some facts to speculate on.. rather than it just has spots.. and maybe we can figure something out ... but again .... if its just a leaf or two.. just snip them out ... how does the newest growth look??? ken

most of it looks like what we call mechanical damage ... like it got caught in a wind storm ... and since you just got it ... it might be shipping damage from grower.. to seller to yoru house .. a pic of the whole plant might help us ... anyway.. minor injury can take time to 'show' .... and i suspect that is what is mostly going on .. keep in mind.. as long as a leaf is green.. its doing its job.. converting light into energy ... so no need to take them off.. but is starts putting out new leaves.. just remove the ugliest one ... then a new leaf.. then remove another.. etc ... also.. its stressed form all that shipping.. so just let it settle down .. imo.. fert is never a response to stress .... try not to love it to death.. water properly.. and give it a few more months and lets see what happens.. dont forget the pic of the whole... ken ps: btw.. where are you.. and when you brought it home.. was it cold outside???.. if significant.. how cold???