Personally, I am convinced the problem is the oil he is using. Does this look a bit like the pictures in the 'Part 2' above?
One of the 3 Phals infected with this is doing well today, and will bloom next season after being near death. The biggest difference for this plant is the elimination of the neem oil. I think the reason this is not recognized as the cause is because the damage is stress, resulting in a later infection by some fungus or just latent damage from the neem (or other) oil itself, so that the causal relationship is not obvious. It is also interesting to note that many of the symptoms that arise from neem oil use can be prevented by systemic fungicide use (hence the belief it is a secondary infection) and fits the description give in the articles.