The Philippines are 7100 islands located in the western Pacific Ocean, 5° to 20° north of

the Equator, and are home to a diverse range of native species and plants. Today, the
Archipelago is beset by deforestation and soil erosion, both linked to a long history. The
Philippine Archipelago is an example of the most significant combined landmasses in Island
Southeast Asia. They have witnessed three significant pre-colonial Holocene land-use changes:
rice agriculture, domesticated pigs, and the establishment of globalized 'Metal Age' and
Protohistoric trading polities and port locations. It's likewise one of the several places in Island
Southeast Asia to have experienced Spanish conquest and the influx of exotic plants, animals,
and political and social structures that came with it. As a result, the Philippines can play a big
part in tropical and subtropical
regions' discussions of pre-and
post-colonial subsistence,
demography, and overall land
use. Discussions are increasing
interest to climate and earth
scientists attempting to
determine prehistoric and
historical societies' legacies
left on earth systems. The
influence of prehistoric and
landmark translocations,
particularly intensively-used
domesticates, on an island
system like the Caribbean has
the potential to cause
enormous changes in
landscapes and biodiversity.
Meanwhile, before European
arrival, Southeast Asian
communities may have had
more access to and use of
significant domesticated
animals, giving them more
resilience to pandemic
diseases, especially when
compared to the catastrophic
mortality seen in the
Neotropics. Nonetheless,
whereas the Spanish invasion
of the Philippines brought Manila together, Mexico did not.
 According to what can be deduced from later records, the
Filipinos of the 15th century must have largely engaged in
shifting cultivation, hunting, and fishing. The exception was
semi-permanent cultivation. In the northern Luzon
mountains, where extensive rice terraces were constructed
over 2,000 years ago, livelihood and social organization
were related to a permanent territory. The lowlands people
lived in barangays, which were kinship groups led by a datu,
or chieftain. The barangay was usually the largest stable
economic and political unit, with only a few hundred
people.

The status system within the barangay appears to have consisted of three major classes:
the datu and his family, aristocracy, freeholders,
and "dependents," however it was not rigorous.
Sharecroppers, debt peons, and war prisoners
made up the third group, with the last two tiers
being referred to as "slaves" by Spanish
observers. Slavery was passed down through the
generations, but it seldom lasted more than two
due to manumission and interclass marriage. The
social system's flexibility was partly due to a
bidirectional kinship system in which male and
female lineages were counted equally. Though
divorce was socially acceptable in some
circumstances, marriage appeared to be stable.
Early Filipinos practiced a mix of
monotheism and polytheism, with polytheism
dominating. Numerous rites were required for
the propitiation of spirits, but no religious
hierarchy was apparent. There was a significant
difference between—and even within—islands in
religion, social organization, and economic
activity.
However, when Islam was introduced to
Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Brunei on
the archipelago of Borneo in the 15th century,
this trend began to shift. New political and social institutions arose with changes in religious
beliefs and practices. Two sultanates had been founded by the mid-16th century, with several
barangays falling under their control. As far north as Manila, a powerful datu converted to
Islam. The Spanish landed right in the middle of this wave of Islamic proselytism. Filipinos today
might be largely Muslim people if the Spanish arrived a century later or if their motivations
were purely commercial.