Some deft searching revealed this SO question and answer, but doesn't really help with bools:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21316518/sql-data-type-to-php-data-type-in-model
"if you are using Phalcon\Db\Adapter\Pdo\Mysql as your adapter, Integers are returned as strings in PDO by default
to return the right types you need to setup the appropriate options for your adapter, you need to set ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES and ATTR_STRINGIFY_FETCHES to false
you need to change your Adapter code in your config or service file as your setup like this"
return new Phalcon\Db\Adapter\Pdo\Mysql([
'host' => 'DATABASE_HOST',
'username' => 'USERNAME',
'password' => 'PASSWORD',
'dbname' => 'DATABASE_NAME',
'options' => array(
PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => false,
PDO::ATTR_STRINGIFY_FETCHES => false,
)
]);