There are lots of PHP tools to manage and maintain MySQL databases. The feature set is complete compared to other databases. ASP and PHP are both very good solutions for mid-range web sites. SQL Server 7 and Oracle are nearly as fast, but much too expensive if you don't need the transaction support. This comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of how most Web sites operate.
Most Web sites serve thousands of Web pages a day, but perform fewer data updates.
And a typical data transaction is simple single table update for user logins or forum posts. PHP also has good support for modular programming in classes. Usage of classes is still rare in VBScript because of its heritage. If you aren't a large corporation like Boeing, the chances of getting that fix quickly are pretty low. With PHP, even if you don't have the expertise in-house to fix the bug, you can definitely hire the expertise.