It was my fault Arthur.

I waited 2 hours in our town for a bus to Manila, that simply didn't appear.
That left me short on time, resulting in my missing check-in by a maddening 15 minutes or so.

I had to sleep in the airport. ...after 9 hours on the road.

Previously I've always stayed in Manila the night before my flight... and I will definitely do so next time. Expensive lesson.