Need advice regarding acquiring extended/residency visa

If you are not married to a Filipino then your choices become limited to either extending your tourist visa or an SRRV special retiree resident visa.

The tourist visa is initially good for 30 days  After which time you will need to go to a BI bureau of Immigration office to extend it whereas you will then be required to obtain and ACR-I card (Alien certificate of registration card). 

BI link:   http://immigration.gov.ph

ACR-I card: http://www.in-philippines.com/alien-cer … istration/

Tourist Visa:  http://www.in-philippines.com/visiting- … a-tourist/

Make sure you have more than six months time remaining on your passport and be sure you bring any and all personal documents with you if you are staying.  Birth certificate, etc.

Obtaining a drivers license in the Philippines has recently become a little tougher for those here on a tourist Visa.  Your U.S. license is good for 90 days.  Public transport or a private vehicle with a local driver may be your options and some talk of an International license has been discussed though I cannot speak to the validity of the license or it's acceptance in the Philippines.

Bank accounts can also be an issue for someone here on a tourist visa.  I cannot personally speak to the issue and won't, though I had a friend here for three months on a tourist visa who was turned down by both BDO and BPI banks because of his tourist status.  That being said, consider your options for funding yourself like a pre paid credit card loaded on line from a home country bank or by using wire transfers.

Wire transfer link:  http://www.remitrate.com/money-transfer-companies

The SRRV option will require a deposit be made in a Philippine bank to secure this option which gives you the necessary ID to open a bank account, obtain a drivers license and come an go from the Philippines at your leisure with no additional costs aside from the yearly renewal fee.

Housing for rent can be checked in nearly any area simply by typing for example: 

Rent Davao     or     Condominium Davao      into your internet browser and numerous sites will appear with property for rent, just substitute the city of your choice and if you do find a place remember cheaper is probably noisier and not as well maintained.  If you rent take pictures of the place prior to moving in and a pic of the person you meet with.  Find out what maintenance is available if any and remember that many areas of the Philippines have problems with electric outages nearly daily as well as water issues.  Keep that in mind as well as the fact that higher elevations such as Baguio and Tagaytay area have cooler temps and less need for AC which you will not have without a backup generator in a blackout.

Life here will be much easier if you have a Filipino to help in dealing with other Filipinos in your daily business dealings or with things as simple as a trip to the market.  Sometimes the Kano price is a little higher so beware of the possibility of getting gouged on prices.

SRRV links:

http://www.pra.gov.ph/http://myphilippinelife.com/philippines … visa-srrv/http://philippineslifestyle.com/blog/20 … 2014-2015/

You can send an email to this address with questions about the SRRV program:

clientrelations[at]pra.gov.ph.

You can also try and contact these representatives:

MS. SCARLET L. LACHICA
Retiree Assistance Officer III, Clark-Subic Satellite Office
Mobile No. : 09179853715
E-mail : pra.clarksubic[at]gmail.com

NOEHL D. BAUTISTA
Marketing Manager
PHILIPPINE RETIREMENT AUTHORITY
29F Citibank Tower
8741 Paseo de Roxas
Makati City
Tel No. 8481418
Mobile No. 09178553811
Email add:  noehlb[at]yahoo.com

You can also find help on facbook

https://www.facebook.com/SRRVisa/

While you did not say to what extent you have researched the Philippines, your budget, lifestyle, health needs etc.  I hope this is of some help.

Best of luck,