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Some of the Kalinga live in
octagonal houses. The central portion of the octagonal
house rests on a four-post-two-girder-and-three-joist
structure. Beyond this frame, eight posts are added to
form the eight sides of the house. Wooden laths resting
on joists support the runo floor which can be rolled up
like a mat and taken to the river for washing.
 Boat
forms appear to have inspired the Isneg house. The
bamboo roof suggests an inverted boat, and wooden
floor joists have the profile of a boat. The Isneg house
has two sets of posts, the inner set supporting the
floor, and the outer set supporting the roof. As in the
Kalinga house, the floor can be rolled up.
The walls are vertical boards set
into grooves that are cut into beams at floor and roofeaves
level. A window is created by simply taking out a few
boards. All the wall boards can be removed to make the
house a roofed platform for village celebrations. The
Isneg house is the largest among the Cordillera houses,
since the entire family, and even married offsprings
could live in it.
It
is not known when and how Cordillera houses developed
into their present form. What is clear, however, is that
these house forms developed in isolation and were
untouched by Western influence, for the Spanish
colonizers did not succeed in bringing the region and
its people under their rule.
On
hilltops and rolling land, the T'boli of Southern
Cotabato in Mindanao build large (me-room houses on
stilts. The roof is of dried grass, the walls of woven
bamboo, and the posts of whole bamboo and, occasionally,
tree stumps. The central portion of the floor is
slightly lower than the areas around it. The side
sections are for working or resting. At one end is the
entrance and the fireplace, and at the other is the
place of honor for the head of the house. The interior
of the T'boli house is one example of a characteristic
feature of Philippine houses - space surrounded by space.
Islam
was established in Sulu in the 14th century and in
Mindanao in the 15th century. The combination of a
strong, organized religion and a high degree of
political organization enabled the Muslim people of
Mindanao to resist Spain's attempts to bring them under
her dominion.
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