I would think that L.A. is going to be your cheapest starting point, but I could be wrong. Best to check the prices online. If you want to visit another city prior to Valencia I would recommend Cebu over Manila. You won't have to worry about immigration when you first fly in. You will get your first 30 day stamp at the airport at no cost when you come through immigration (make sure you have an onward ticket though). If you want to extend that to 6 months you will need to fly through Manila and go to the main immigration office (on a weekday). From Manila you can get a flight directly to Dumaguete.
When you fly into Manila (and if you don't plan on getting the 6 month extension at the Main BI) do not go outside the terminal to catch a taxi to your connecting terminal going to Dumaguete (scammers all of them!). The airport has a shuttle bus that will take you to the terminal you need to get to...and it's free. Ask any guard/airport employee how to get to the shuttle, if they tell you to go outside the terminal by the taxis they don't know what they are talking about or they are part of the taxi scam, find another person to ask.
If you want to stop and rest a night in Manila I would recommend getting a taxi (the yellow ones) to Makati. Make reservations at a hotel prior to you arriving though, you don't want to be walking around trying to find a hotel in Makati last minute. The Tunes Hotel should suit your needs and is clean and affordable. There is plenty to do on Burgos St. in Makati. I would only do one night in Makati (Manila) then get an onward ticket to Dumaguete. If you liked Makati you can schedule more days there on the return.
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