Rodney Chambers, a 58-year-old from Western Australia, has been found dead inside his hotel room in the Philippines. A Filipino woman has been charged with murder over his death.

The body of Chambers from Wundowie, north east of Perth, was found strangled to death on Friday.

He was reportedly going for a three-week holiday in the Philippines. His body was found in an unidentified hotel room in Lapu-Lapu in Cebu City.

The 31-year-old unidentified Filipino woman was known to Chambers, according to reports. She said the tragedy occurred because she had acted in self-defense. Police said the pair fought over money.

Friends and family of Chambers learned about his death on Facebook. Bridget Shewring, Chamber's ex-partner, told Radio 6PR on Wednesday a local friend of the Australian man posted a message with a phone number for loved-ones to get in touch.

"It said, 'Any friends or family members of Kim Chambers please contact me on this number'," Shewring said.

"I rang that number but they couldn't understand me so my sons got on to the embassy and found out (Mr Chambers' body) was in a funeral parlour over there."

Shewring said it doesn't seem that Chambers was in trouble the minute he landed in the Philippines.

He even sound fine the last time we spoke, she said.

"I heard from his brother through an email that some woman had stolen his phone so he couldn't contact anyone, he could only do it by email, and that's the last anyone heard of him,'' Shewring added.

This was Chamber's third visit to the Philippines, she noted.