Regarding the matter of “acquaintances via the internet” the Embassy informs of the following:
Acquaintances through the internet are a popular and interesting way, to make new contacts, which may range from friendship to love. Please consider, however, that there are also con people, who look for their victims in the internet and find them there.
A popular scam is to suggest a visit to Germany after a few contacts via internet and telephone. The Embassy is informed time and again by disappointed sponsors in Germany, that they had transferred money to their guest several times but the Embassy would constantly reject the visa, or demand new documents again and again, so that their guest would have to travel back and forth from his/her home to Manila in order to submit the visa application.
The Embassy points out that a repeated travel to and from the Embassy is not required for the visa application, if the application was carefully prepared. The documents required for this result from the information leaflets of the Embassy, which are available on the website or the from the Visa Section. The Visa fee for a Schengen Visa is 60 Euros, payable in Philippine Pesos at the current exchange rate. In addition to this thereare further expenses, as the applicant must appear for the interview in the Embassy (overnight stay, travel by train/bus/air plane, etc.). Whoever requests money several times for travels and documents, probably does this for other reasons.
The Embassy encourages you to meet your Philippine acquaintance in the Philippines first, especially if you know each other only a relatively short time. As a German national you can enter the Philippines without a visa and at the same time see some of the beautiful sights of the country.
It is, of course, generally up to you to decide when and where to meet your acquaintance. The basic principle is valid for the issue of internet acquaintances, too: “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”