A new Immigration policy now allows tourists and other temporary visitors to stay in the country up to two years—and even longer...
Read here: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/...70807top3.html
It would be nice to read this Memorandum Order from the Immigration Commissioner to fully know the details. But there's no announcement yet on the Philippines Immigration web site.
Anyway the actual rule do not change: as a tourist, over the first 21days of stay, you must renew your temporary visitor’s visa every 2 months at the nearest immigration office. The change is that you can renew it like this up to 24 months (from your initial entrance in the Philippines).
For those married and entering both in the Philippines, the Balikbayan visa is better as you get directly a 1 year residency visa.
Remember that none of the above visa allows you to work in the Philippines...