I take it this person who is not on the forum is planning on going as a tourist not living there? if they live in PH they can probably work out where to sell or buy gold themselves so ill assume we are talking about a visitor?
Although I am currently back in the UK for Business . I have lived in the Philippines for the last 15 years both in Manila and in Laguna province in the south of Luzon and I am also married to a Filipina. As I have said before on this forum I buy and sell fair amounts of Gold in Asia, Australia and West Africa so feel I can offer some advice.
Firstly I wouldn't generally recommend anyone who doesn't live and or work in PH trying to sell or buy large amounts of Gold in the Philippines. Other than purchasing Jewellery from a big international Mall in Manila. PH is a country were most people can lay their hands on a firearm very quickly and little respect for the law is shown generally. Street crime is rife and people get shot over a bog standard mugging. let alone a gold deal gone bad!. another piece of advice don't walk around showing off expensive gold chains or even a decent watch on the streets it just marks you out as suitable to mug!
so what type of Gold does this person want to sell / buy?
Coins.
Modern bullion, is almost unavailable legitimately in PH and to my knowledge? there are no main stream bullion dealers even in the Central business district of Makati in Manila. Most people in PH wanting to buy bullion will fly across to Singapore or Hong Kong or buy gold vaulted outside the country.
You do see the odd seller of older silver and possibly Gold? collectable coins and notes issued in PH knocking around on street corners etc occasionally but most of the stuff they are selling will be tat and or fake .
Bars.
The simple advice if somebody offers to sell you a Gold bar in PH it is fake end of.
There are a lot of fake bars knocking around usually advertised on social media like FB marketplace etc .or maybe offered up to an outsider sitting in a bar etc by a helpful local. I have heard of instances where even local law enforcement officers have been trying to sell off fake bars. Also plenty of the fake gold bars are offered up as lost Japanese loot from WWII which somebody has just found out in the forest, which of course they are not.
Jewellery
Obviously the bigger shopping malls like the Mall of Asia and SM north Edsa in Manila will carry all the big international brands, just as in any other country but the gold is no cheaper than anywhere else and in some cases much more expensive than for instance Thailand.
Duty Free at Manila Airport. there are a few big brands selling Jewellery at the airport duty free for good prices and you can also access the Duty free shop coming Inbound through Manila airport after passing through immigration, as well as outbound.
There are a few slightly more dodgy small scale jewellery sellers operating from stalls in parts of manila that sell gold at a good price but they tend to be in areas rougher than a badgers ar** that your average tourist wouldn't usually be in, although somebody living in manila and able to speak Tagalog might be prepared to risk selling to or buying from such sellers?. These sellers flog off second-hand jewellery purchased by overseas Filipino workers brought back home and then sold for cash in PH. Returning locals get heavily taxed on any cash brought back to PH earnt working abroad, hence they will buy and wear lots of gold when coming back home then sell it on to the local dealers. But be aware that these type of sellers will more than likely also be handling locally stolen jewellery.
One decent seller that springs to mind that I have purchased some nice chains from before at good prices is a small stall alongside the post office counter on the second floor of Victory Mall just off of Monumento in Caloocan city Manila.
If selling gold in PH one of these small scale dealers would probably be the best avenue for selling for cash.
On a side note in most malls here there are Silver Jewellers selling superbly made silver Jewellery at very very cheap prices obviously aimed at the local market and this silver is usually very good Quality & value.
Raw Gold.
The Philippines is awash with raw gold mined illegally by all and sundry. it is available In the form of Gold dust, Gold Flakes, Nuggets and amalgamate anywhere there are illegal miners operating in the country, which in short is most provinces.
The average person should not get involved with trying to buy any raw goId in the Philippines. It is mined illegally and it is illegal to export out of the country, The penalties for smuggling it out of the country are very high. The illegal mining in Ph is controlled by organised armed criminal gangs and unless you want to be staring down the wrong end of a loaded gun with no money and no gold don't try and buy any of this stuff as a visitor to PH
regards
DB