You are not far off the mark ;)

Personally (and not speaking on behalf of the rest of the Manila team), I wouldn't mind, in principle, that the procedures for selecting the Wikimania host is going to be changed for some welcome improvements. (Although I have very strong reservations with the details, most of which were aired by Josh before me). 

However, if this was the intention all along, I hope that Ellie did not have to tell Josh to tell the Manila team to restart our bid. At the time we made our first bid, most of the prospective suppliers or partners said that they would be available July-August 2016 and were even more than ready to send us a contract on the spot (we had to explain that we're merely putting a bid so we said that would have to wait). They are still available and would be willing to pencil-book us should we win the 2017 bid. On my part (and, I would surmise, Josh's), the time we've spent privately reworking our bid could have been better spent in other tasks like chapter/community work in Wikimedia Philippines. 

If the changes to the procedure would have been effective for the 2018 bids, I would understand. However, we were never informed or warned that changes were afoot, and up to this point, all of us---the Manila, Bali and Perth bid teams---have started working on our bids in good faith, because we never knew that the current process would be rescinded. And to make things worse, the "winning" city for 2017 was not even one of the cities which have put up a bid for 2017. This is probably one of the most inconsiderate things I've ever experienced in my Wiki-life, and you cannot blame me if we all felt betrayed and misled, despite and in spite of the reassurances that have been said up to this point.

Now, how would I get ever back the time and effort I lost in reworking on our planned 2017 bid?