What if the Philippines were never colonized ?
Good question.
It could have been sinified by the Chinese, since the Ming court represented by Zheng He did make trips in around the region and the close proximity of Maharlika (Pilipinas) to Zhong Guo (China) would have led to fortuitous Chinese colonization of the islands, the same seen in Formosa (Taiwan).
But in regards to colonialism as a whole (European and Asian),--we also have to take into consideration that the Philippine Archipelago was not a unified kingdom, but rather a loose band of rajanates, princedoms that were at war with one another till the advent of the Spanish colonial forces. Had foreign intrusion been nullified, I assume that the princely states of the archipelago would have united under one banner via military subjegation of the weaker states by a larger kingdom within the archipelago. Much to likes seen in insular Sumatra and Java where the warring city states and rajanates battled for control of the kingdom, leading to the rise of large empires as in the case of Sri Vijaya, Majapahit. Or in similar cases, the rise of kingdoms such as Ayothaya, Phitsanulok, Chiang Mai in the region of present day Thailand. But in regards to the possibility of an indigenous super-force that could have possibly conquered the entire Philippine Archipelago, i would say that the Sultanate of Sulu would have been capable. It was a predominant force in the region until Pax Hispanica changed the native political demographics forever.
There are many possible sub-questions, sub topics etc to this rather interesting (general) discussion question.
I await to contribute further.
Lorenzo.
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