Learn a local language.

Learn a local language and find yourself getting big discounts from merchants at the market. There will always be two sets of rates and prices for food and pasalubong: one for the locals, and one for the tourists. They can tell you're a tourist when you only speak either Tagalog or English. Most of the time, just speaking the local language can give you at least a 10% discount (emphasis on AT LEAST).

Learn a local language and find yourself having even more fun during festivals. The country is absolutely festive, having at least one or two (or more!) fiestas in one month. If you find yourself on a mission to travel around the Philippines to attend every festival, you'll have an easier time finding your way through the throngs of people in the streets.

Learn a local language and get the warmest of greetings from food places and lodging. They know you're a tourist, but they (or at least from what I have observed) find it amusing that you took the time to learn at least the basics of Ilokano or Bisaya. Granted, they may be amused because you can't get the accent or pronunciation right, it's still A+ for effort on your part. And you don't sound snobbish too!

Learn a local language and immerse yourself in their culture. Find yourself in a culture so unlike your own, yet so like you at the same time. Find yourself fishing with the Ilokanos and Pangalatoks, or eating lechon with the Cebuanos. Go horseback-riding in Baguio, or looking at the eagles in Davao or the tarsiers in Bohol. Swim with the butandings (whale sharks) in Sorsogon, or with the pawikans and the dolphins in Ozamiz. How about looking at the difference between the crocodiles in Palawan and in Davao? Whatever the case, the local language is one of the best ways to immerse yourself in a local culture that you know it exists, but you have no idea how it feels like to be part of that.

Learn a local language and see the difference it makes.

Learn a local language and give the local cultures the love they deserve.