Dear Caitlin,
You pose great questions to the pearls produced in the Philippines. I found this article that is very interesting:
http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/mag...106046,00.html
It answers several of your questions and gives a nice glimpse to what is happening with pricing of pearls coming from this area versus the Australian market.
It appears that these pearls are being sold as South Sea pearls and not marketed as Philippine pearls.
Amanda Raab
President