Although there is considerable anecdotal evidence that the scale of private tutoring is substantial in the Philippines, attempts to document its existence is limited. Using phenomenological inquiry, this study aimed to provide a more eidetic portrait of private tutoring transformation in the Philippines from the perspectives and collective experiences of 11 cram school and formal school administrators from 3 key urban cities in the country. Using a dendrogram, semistructured interviews surfaced three distinct syndromes describing the dynamics of private tutoring phenomenon, namely, the lean on, pass on, and ride on syndromes of private tutoring. Through the years, private tutoring was able to secure its own market niche at the fringes of the mainstream education system and has become more entrenched in Philippine society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]