Living in Manila but getting paid at home... can it be done?

You may have problems pretending you are a tourist and getting extensions on your visa to keep working.  Since that is illegal, no one on here is allowed to help you or encourage you to break any laws.  Perhaps you should do it the right way as suggested.

As per my tax consultant has mentioned to me, as long as you are doing productive work in the country you will need to pay local tax unless you are here for a temporary and short term assignment which you can/may avoid double taxation.

Also being a tourist visa means you come here for travel or business meetings.

You know the answer to this and it is not an answer we can give you

Your company should do all the required visa and work permits, (accomodation?)(living away from home allowances?). Having an office in Manila will make this easier.
Australia and PH have tax treaties, google it. If you are paid in PH and taxed, declare this when you do your Aussie tax, the income paid becomes part of your Australian liability and the taxes you pay in PH become a tax credit against that though you may have to pay more as the Oz tax rate is higher than PH.

The employer can direct deposit into your Oz account. This is only my opinion. Talk to your employer and do it legally. Good luck.

Cheers, Steve.

i'm not saying that you can't but i highly suggest that you will not do it for the sake of obeying the law. cause the punishment might be deportation.

i have a friend, an Indonesian. he works in a company in Makati and he was the one who refused the idea of getting issued a working visa so he can resign anytime. hence, until now he's a tourist visa holder. he always travel to other country every month to extend his tourist visa and yet, he's also an employee in the Phils.

so the answer is, yes you can. but try as best as you can to not do it, just to be safe.