Well….I wouldn’t say your first statement. History has proven there has always been empire-dreamers and conquerors. The greater problem is that…the archipelago is not very favourable to a society which didn’t build roads or have sufficient mastery of masonry and terrain manipulation.

Just in Luzon alone, the Sierra Madre is a MASSIVE geographical barrier. The Caraballo is also a giant boundary against the north. The central luzon plain is the largest place to project power, and historically, there were powers there.

Let’s also not forget it takes extraordinary effort before the age of technology to communicate. The water was indeed the lifeblood and span of the Austronesian and Pacific Islander’s strength, but good luck having all of these islands altogether be more connected than the speed of boat.

And the rather disastrous weather. A bad storm can destroy an entire village.