Taking the plunge

That is correct, however lots of people don't declare their status, or inform their GP, to get round that rule of three months.
Having paid your National insurence dues during your working life, on return to UK, provided you state that you are now living permanently back in UK and seeking enrolment with a GP surgery there should be no problems. What I can tell you is that some Filipino families with relatives visiting them in UK, were in the past able to obtain emergency treatment for them,
like Jim said they are now closing loop holes which has been costing the NHS time and money.
Incidently, a Filipino family who decided to leave Spain for the UK, on arrival in UK with a work permit, had to pay a premium for each member of the family to cover medical expenses, although I'm not sure of the amount or the period that it covered. Yes thing are changing.
To put the thread back on track......If you had arrived to live in Philippines today, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

 

Slightly off-topic again but perhaps never come in the first place. There are many better countries for expats - some even like expats! But once your feet have settled it's just too much hassle to move again. And, of course, I recognise that many expats are tied here with families.

 

Build a smaller house, not counting the balconies the house is 450 sm over three floors. I want to sell it but wife won't move again. Apart from that nothing.

 

Ever thought of taking in Expat Lodger's? just asking for a friend

 

So somebody like me who has paid UK tax and national insurance for almost all their working life is denied NHS treatment but the cvnt's that come across the channel in their hundreds every day can get it, oh i forgot a hotel and spending money as well.
must make sense to someone.
glad i left....

 

As i have said before the one and only reason i am here is because it is so much easier for me to get a permanent visa to live here than for my wife to get one for the UK.
We did all the palaver to get her a 2 and 1/2 year visa and when that runs out then you do it again to get another 2 and 1/2 and THEN you can apply for permanent.
STICK IT UK.

 

We intended to do that before we built the house, then after moving in we decided it was not a good idea.
We built a guest for any expats to use and at the moment it's occupied.

 

My wife's got a British passport and lived with me for 12 years in England but won't go back permanently, only vacations.

 

Just to give your friend some idea about his buying power in the Philippines:

• Inflation in the Philippines over the past 10 years has been around 42% cumulative.
  However, the general inflation rate as quoted above doesn't necessary apply to your personal shopping basket.
  Typically, the lower the budget, the harder inflation bites.
• Just in case your friend might consider buying or building a house here: 10 years ago you could still buy or build a reasonably nice house under 3 million within a radius of 5 km from Downtown; nowadays count on at least double that amount.
• Similarly, minimum wages here have gone up around the same percentage as inflation, which means you'll pay higher compensation whenever you need to pay for someone's labour.
• The current Sterling/Peso exchange rate is largely the same as 10 years ago.

Whether living here is still a good proposition financially really depends on all the things @Crystalhead mentioned.
What probably matters most is the level of expectations people bring with them when moving here.
And another thing is that individual concepts of "living modestly" can vary wildly.
One persons "living modestly" might equal someone else's exuberance or alternatively someone else's poverty.