Waffling on as I do hdgh. You mentioned "coming up with a decent place to live".
We live in a fantastic place, (no where near a city) truly wonderful and meets all our needs and what we looked for for 3 years before we purchased, our criteria was as follows: Absolute beachfront, large lot (I'm a bit of a gardener), existing decent solid concrete home (now 8 years old), not too far from town (4Kms), not too far from Bens family and friends but far enough that they will think twice about loafing on us (40 mins drive in traffic), a very quiet area, no or minimal Karaoke, no roosters or barking dogs, no burning of rubbish especially plastics as they tend to do here, low crime/safe area, privacy and respect. Great private hospital 25 mins. Prioritise your needs.
LOL, we lucked out on the (1) rooster that crows from 430 to 500 am every day but I am up and about anyway and Ben never hears it as he is sleeping and the sound is distant, the burning of rubbish does happen (us included but trees and timber) and at least once a week I smell plastic burning so while not perfect has pretty well met our needs. As a single guy it would not be my choice but as a couple has worked beautifully, the neighbours (mostly westerners) are nice and we generally keep to ourselves apart from the odd drinkies, we are on a dead end road so only local traffic from the 7 houses in our street.(6 vacant lots)
To date working well and we are enjoying, this came at a cost, heaps of research online with agents, private sellers, google maps and of course the unbeatable boots on the ground for 3 plus years, A great place to live that suits our needs and wants but not for everyone that's for sure no different to us going back and living in Manila, been there and never again.
Back to the OP's thread perhaps it should have read "Best cities, Province or even Barangay for retirement in the Philippines". It all comes back to the individuals needs and wants, we all wear different shoes and clothes and what one likes the other hates.
One has to taste the flavours, the dirt before a rational decision can be made no matter the economics, geographical location, safety, love, comfort zone and then as it always seems the almighty budget.
Cheers, Steve.