Intramuros is still well-preserved when I got there, good to spend some time if you love history.

A lot of restorations. One of the grand churches was left standing after WW2 and was recently renovated.

I just posted my photos to : http://www.globalphotos.org/manila.htm

Intramuros is a mix of history, slum, and government offices.

Seems it might be interesting to visit Manila, like these other emerging SE asian cities.

Anybody gone there recently? How is the situation?

traffic
 

jammed everywhere.

well maybe not after seeing this travel video:

https://theintercept.com/2017/07/29/...eld-of-vision/

+1
Corregidor is the only reason for me to visit Manila.

propaganda at it's best.

Places I've been and worth checking out:

Cebu - our home base. Lots of sights to see in a day. Fort San Pedro. Magellan's Cross. Lapu-Lapu on Mactan Island where Magellan was killed, and where a big statue honors the chief who killed him. Lots of high end resorts on Mactan Island
Alegre Beach Resort if it is still open in northern Cebu. AN absolutely beautiful out of the way resort.

Bohol - this used to be the place I wanted to retire, but we went in March of '17 and it is getting crowded. And we escaped a near-mugging at Alona Beach. It's still a nice place, but there are tourists everywhere. Chocolate Hills are cool as is the lunch on Loboc River. There's been some terrorist activity there lately, butI'd still go back

El Nido - tough to get to from Puerto Princesa, but well worth the trip. I love the vibe of the small town and the island hopping was spectacular. I also enjoyed our 1 day in Puerto Princesa, and the bay walk is nice at night. Just chill. I would love to go back to PPS.

Legaspi on Luzon, and Mount Mayon. Mayon volcano takes your breath away if you can catch it peeking from the clouds. We went ATV'ing and zip lining on Mayon and it is also one place I want to return.

Siquijor - We went in March '17. It was OK but at the bottom of our list of favorites. The tour of the island was just so-so. I wouldn't ever go back.

Boracay - We've never been, but have heard it's very crowded now and a party scene if you're into that. We probably will never go.

We are going back to the Philippines in March of '18 and are thinking about Coron on Palawan, Batad Rice Terraces, and maybe island hopping around Cebu

Good luck

Fly in/out of Cebu if you can. Boracay is nearby and offers a beautiful beach. Bohol is also close to Cebu. Manila is traffic hell (infinitely worse than Bangkok or Los Angeles). It takes at least half a day to get to Tagatay, which is only a few miles south of town. Just getting between terminals at MNL can take an hour or more.

​​​​​​I would be more worried about huge crowds of mainland Chinese package tourists and cruise ships in PPS than I would of terrorists.

Cebu
 

Have been to Cebu recently and it was good. Swimming with sharks and canyoneering was a lot of fun :)