Wise.

We need to know how long you're staying, but I'll guess under 90 days. ATMs with your own bank's debit card are the cheapest, and there are plenty of them. You won't be around long enough to open a bank account. You could also open a Wise account (app) and have it ready alongside your debit card; that works pretty well too. Search for Wise in this sub for more info

Assuming you're American, open a Charles Schwab bank account and use their debit card there. For your phone, look into Google Fi.

For a month, I really wouldn't worry about much of anything. Most of what we do is long-term, which is where it adds up. I just used my debit card and ate the fees when I was visiting. If your buddy has a Philippine bank account and you're with CIBC or RBC, you can do a Global Money Transfer, which is basically the same as an e-Transfer: instant. I'm with CIBC and can move as much as I want as long as it's structured properly. What I mean is, I don't try to send 50k pesos in one transfer. Under 20k pesos seems to be the sweet spot for instant transfers. My guess is the bigger ones get processed manually. Don't overthink it. Enjoy

If convenience is worth more to you than the cheapest deal, I'd just buy Globe's tourist eSIM. 80GB for 30 days for 1,750 pesos. You can buy it at home and add it to your phone (if it supports eSIM) before you go. Just be aware you have to fill out an online form with photos of yourself and your passport before you can use it (if I remember right). For me, phone data plus the Grab app (ride-hailing ++) with my payment card linked is my safety blanket. Once those are up and running, everything else eventually falls into place.