My preferred route to Manila is Birmingham-Amsterdam-Manila, good long rest and avoids Hellrow.
Never, never, never via Dubai again!
If BA introduced similar flights, it would be worth looking at, only problem would be strikes, On more than one occasion we have been fortunate not to be flying BA as they were affected by strikes at the time, and as our final flight in the Philippines has to be booked separately, we would have had to pay again for it after the delay.
(I am NOT commenting on the merit of any strikes, only on the effect it has/could have on our travels(