Thank you for the support and re-steem! I booked my ticket during a Cebu Pacific seat sale (they usually have seat sales on public holidays). I paid within 24 hours through payment center but you can also pay real time using credit card. So yes I had to pay early to get the low rate.
Cebu Pac and Air Asia would usually have the lowest fares but I also read that PAL will have a seat sale this month, just saw in the news.