The prices in the Philippines can vary greatly. If you see something you like at a store, try to buy two items and ask for a discount. Doesn't even have to be the same thing.
The first place I really was at was on the beach. White Sands has several youngsters who try to sell you these glowing things that fly into the air. They generally ask at first for 150 pesos (around $3). That is actually overpriced. If you ignore them or say no, they will keep begging in the most pitiful, whiny voice for you to buy their toys. They come down to 20 and 30 pesos.
Another gadget on the beach that is sold is a green laser. It is pretty cool. The guy selling it asked for 1500 pesos. I told him it was just too high, that I only had 400 pesos on me. He came down to 700 pesos, but said he just couldn't go lower. He said 700 pesos or he would take 5 USD. I went back to my room and got the pesos. Didn't have US money on me or I would have done that in a heartbeat.
Not as popular but definitely someone that will try to sell you is a single guy with blocks of wood. My first day there and he came up with carved wood. I figured they would make great gifts for some family back home and we sorta bargained. He said 1000 pesos for one. I hesitated and he brought it down to 700 pesos. I figured that must be a good price and pulled out a 1000 peso bill to ask if he had change. When he saw that, he offered two wood carvings at 1000. Said it was a good discount. I wonder about that.
Something you really want to do there is definitely the water activities. I didn't get to go helmet diving since I couldn't get anyone else to come with me. They try to sell that activty for 1000 or 1500 pesos. However the offer came down to 800 pesos before the day was done.
If you want to go parasailing, we went for like 1750 pesos person. We learned at the BBC that that was actually expensive.
5 of us went on a sailboat to go island hopping for 3,000 pesos. We learned later that someone at the BBC owned a boat and would have taken us for 2,000 pesos if we had just asked.
So ask around, learned prices, tell someone that someone else offered lower and generally they will meet if not make a better deal. If snorkeling is involved, they should be willing to provide the gear. Usually whatever price is offered can be cut by 1/3 to 1/2 depending on the activity and amount of people.
Food in restaurants are not generally something you can bargain. We found that depending on the place, a light meal was around 200-300 pesos. We ate large meals and spent generally around 400-600 pesos. Then there is the drinks. 40-60 pesos for water. 100-140 pesos for pop. 200s pesos for other drinks. I of course loved my banana peanut butter milkshakes at the BBC for about 140 pesos ^_^
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