Canned sardines with egg, Canned Sardines with soy sauce and vinegar, Cheap vegetables that you can ask for a cheaper price, Noodles etc. There also a lot of carienderias everywhere which you can have a decent food, with rice free soup and unlimited water (lol) for only Php 60.00 = $1.5 +- , For dresses there are also thrift shops everwhere, cheap but decent dresses. Ask her to cook you some "dilis" or "tuyo", I think you would love it.
Robbery or Akyat Bahay, is an inevitable "entity" specially in crowded places or squatter areas.
I mean, That is what Philippines can offer,decent job means decent life but what it makes difficult to live here is the Shitty Government, and that's the reality, this Government is Anti-Poor and that's part of living here, taking all the shit and also i forgot to add the Traffic, Inconvenience in Commuting, Guess you experienced the hell of commuting.
The discussion is getting funny at the same time serious in here.
It is kind of romantic when someone from a much well-off country (which I suppose you are from) speaks of canned sardines and carinderias in a positive way. The sad thing, however, is that ₱60 may be cheap to you but not to many of the ordinary citizens here. If one ordinary worker spends ₱60 per meal here, he'll be spending ₱180/day for meals alone. That could mean one is eating up more than half of his daily wage. That cannot be. There won't be anything left for the family if that's the case.
The worse thing here is that the government does not make anything better. I suppose the government where you are coming from is looking after the welfare of its people. The government here can only offer lip service.