Fortifications

The architecture of the early Filipinos are also reflected in the historical
military structures in the country. There was often competition in trade between
the thalassocratic states in the archipelago. Neighboring kingdoms would often wage
wars against one another to gain control of trade and territory. Fortifications
were then necessary to keep their subjects and interests protected. Due to foreign
attacks and colonisation, only a few of these fortresses physically remain.
However, many cities in the country, such as Manila, were built on the basis of
fortifications that predated the colony.

During the colonisation of the Philippines, fortifications were also built by the
foreign powers to assert political control in the islands. The Spanish, for
example, made use of their forts against attacks from Chinese and Moro Pirates, as
well as the Dutch and the British. These forts were made almost entirely of stone;
hence some of them have survived numerous wars and are still standing to this day.

Kuta
The surviving attested forms of fortifications in the country before colonisation
were the kuta (stronghold) and moog (tower). The word kuta is cognate with the
Malay kota which has the modern meaning "city". Kuta, in addition to its military
uses, also served as a palace for the local lord. These structures were usually
made of stone and wood and were surrounded by trench networks.

Kuta were notably used by Muslims for defense against foreign invaders. It is said
that the Maguindanao Sultanate, at the height of their power, blanketed the area
around Western Mindanao with such fortifications to prevent the Spanish from
advancing into the region. However, the sultanate was eventually subdued after
further Spanish campaigns in the region and majority of the kuta were dismantled.
During the American occupation, insurgents still built strongholds and the sultans
often had these reinforced.[5] Many of these forts were destroyed during American
attacks, which is why very few have survived to this day.

Notable kuta:

Kota Seludong: the foundation of the city of Manila

Cotabato: "stone fort"; a stone fortification in Mindanao
Kota Sug/Jolo: the capital and seat of the Sultanate of Sulu; converted into a
walled city by the Spanish upon occupation in the 1870s
Igorot Forts
The Igorot built forts made of stone walls that averaged several meters in width
and about two to three times the width in height around 2000 BC.[13]

Idjang
Main articles: Ivatan people and Idjang
Fortifications for wartime purposes were also built by the Ivatan in the islands of
Batanes. They built idjang which were a type of citadel on hills and elevated
areas.[12] These structures were designed so that the entrance was only accessible
by the use of rope ladder which was only lowered for villagers to the disadvantage
of the enemies.

Intramuros
See also: Spanish Colonial Fortifications of the Philippines

Defensive walls of Intramuros

Intramuros was the walled city of Manila along the south bank of the Pasig River.
[1] It was established to replace Kota Seludong, the seat of the power of the
Kingdom of Maynila that was protected by a rammed earth fortress equipped with
stockades, battlements and cannons.[14]
The historic city was once home to many colonial churches, schools, convents,
government buildings and residences. Many of these products of Spanish architecture
were destroyed during World War II. Of all the buildings within the 67-acre city,
only one, the San Agustin Church, survived the war.

Fort Santiago
Fort Santiago (Fuerza de Santiago) is a defensive fortress established in 1571 by
the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi. It was the citadel of Intramuros,
built on the site of the palace and of Rajah Sulayman.[15] which was destroyed by
the Spanish in 1570 while engaging in several battles with the Tagalog.

El Fraile Island

Fort Drum built by the Americans to guard the Islands nearby against invaders.
El Fraile Island or Fort Drum, also known as "the concrete battleship," is a
heavily fortified island situated at the mouth of Manila Bay in the Philippines,
due south of Corregidor Island. The reinforced concrete fortress shaped like a
battleship was built by the United States in 1909 as one of the harbor defenses at
the wider South Channel entrance to the bay during the American colonial period. It
was captured and occupied by the Japanese during World War II, and was recaptured
by the U.S. after igniting petroleum and gasoline in the fort, leaving it
permanently out of commission.

Rice terraces
See also: Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras

A rainbow appearing after the rain at the Batad Rice Terraces, one of the rice
terraces in Ifugao.
For years the mountainous province of Ifugao have been carefully cultivated with
terraced fields.[16] These rice terraces illustrate the ability of human culture to
adapt to new social and climate pressures as well as to implement and develop new
ideas and technologies. They also epitomize a harmonic, sustainable relationship
between humans and their environment. The structures' original builders used stone
and mud walls to carefully carve and construct terraces that could hold flooded
pond fields for the cultivation of rice. They also established a system to water
these plots by harvesting water from mountaintop forests. These engineering feats
were done by hand as was the farming itself.[16]

Maintenance of the rice terraces reflects a primarily cooperative approach of the

whole community which is based on detailed knowledge of the rich diversity of
biological resources existing in the Ifugao agro-ecosystem, a finely tuned annual
system respecting lunar cycles, zoning and planning, extensive soil conservation,
and mastery of a complex pest control regime based on the processing of a variety
of herbs, accompanied by religious rituals and tribal culture.[17]

Although popularly known as and listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site believed
to be older than 2,000 years, there are some conflicting recent studies that report
that the terraces may in fact be less than 1,000 years old.[18][19]

Limestone Tomb complex of Kamhantik

See also: Limestone tombs of Kamhantik
The Limestone tombs of Kamhantik is the site of the excavated remains of a
thousand-year-old village, found in the jungles of Mount Maclayao in Sitio
Kamhantik within the Buenavista Protected Landscape of Mulanay, Quezon,
Philippines.

The complex is composed of fifteen limestone coffins that can be dated back from
the period of 10th to 14th century, with one of the National Museum's top
archaeologists naming it "a complex archaeological site with both habitation and
burial remains from the period of approximately 10th to the 14th century ... the
first of its kind in the Philippines having carved limestone tombs."[20]

American period

The Manila Central Post Office is a neoclassical building built during the American
period.
With the arrival of the Americans in 1898 came a new breed of architectural
structures in the Philippines. Foremost of the American contributions to the
country was