In that case, if I were you I would be sure to scotch this belief ASAP . Buy him a basic run of the mill (current model) nokia and tell him that's all you can afford, that's probably better than what your average Filipino would own. I think that your treading a very slippery slope right now and if you get it all wrong you'll be making a rod for your own back.
Filipino's have very big extended families and if the word gets around that your an easy touch, you'll soon find that they'll be queuing up with their requests.
Iain.