A better outlook on the country's fiscal position after the government implemented a new value added tax and mostly upbeat corporate results attracted foreign investor interest, they said.
The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index closed up 50.37 points at 2,097.30, its best since 2,100.11 on March 17. The market traded between 2,046.93 and 2,099.01. Volume was 606 million shares worth 1.75 billion pesos (32 million dollars).
Gainers beat losers 88 to 10 and 40 stocks were unchanged.
The Philippine peso was at 54.63 to the dollar.
"Foreign and institutional market players have started to realise that there are strong and fundamentally sound investments in the Philippines that are just being overshadowed by the political noise," said Nestor Aguila of DA Market Securities Inc.
Apart from strong corporate earnings, dealers said sentiment continued to be buoyed by the new VAT, reflecting the government's determination to reduce the huge budget deficit.
"Better economic fundamentals and strong corporate earnings have continued to support the market," said Ron Rodrigo of Accord Capital Equities.
At the same time, DA Market Securities' Aguila warned that profit-taking was inevitable given the market's recent sharp gains.
PLDT led the day's winners, closing up 50 pesos to an all-time high of 1,830, supported by a record profit for the nine months to September.
Rival Globe Telecom Inc advanced 15 pesos to 730 after its results.
Ayala Corp rose 10 pesos to 320, while Ayala Land Inc gained 30 centavos to 9.20 pesos ahead of results announcements on Friday. A shares of brewer San Miguel Corp were steady at 65.00 pesos while the B shares closed up 50 centavos at 90 pesos.