Hi John travelling around in the Philippines is definitely not as easy as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, there is no real set backpacker route in the Philippines, so most travel is by public, non-air con bus. Good fun but it can be very uncomfortable for you longer legged foreigners on the buses and a lot of travel is a combination of bus, trike, jeepney and ferry which can be exhausting, so travel slowly and don't try and cram too much in - a lot of people make this mistake. As you only have 3 and a half months over Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia you aren't going to be seeing much of the Philippines and it's a HUGE country and travelling overland will take up a lot of your time.
Since this country is an archipelago, I would suggest backpacking from the north going south (look at a Philippine map, and you'll see why), since it is comprised of three major parts: Luzon (north), Visayas (a group of clustered islands in the middle), and Mindanao (south). For the seasoned backpacker, you will (as usual) go through the basic "backpacker standard procedure" when visiting an Asian country. Like Thailand, the Philippines serves up good accomodations that fit any price range. Be careful, though. Be street-smart as there is no such thing as a truly honest country. Always haggle prices since the country is jam-packed with bargains from food to clothing. Absolutely anything under the Philippine sun.
