In the time before the arrival of the Spaniards, most Filipinos lived in a bahay kubo, a house on stilts made of light materials such as bamboo and nipa for the roof. This was so, because when the family needed to move to another area on which to grow rice (kaingin), they could easily dismantle their house and just as easily build another one. Eventually, the early Filipinos settled into villages and built sturdier bahay kubo's. The house of the village chieftain was the largest and most splendid and was sometimes built up on the branches of strong, thick trees. These houses were constructed of strong and large planks and had many rooms. But the roof was still made of nipa.

     The bahay kubo is essentially a hand-made house. Even today, it is still built the same way. Aside from nipa, the roof could be made of cogon grass, rice stalks, sugar cane leaves, split bamboo and black moss. The leaf shingles are made by stripping leaves from the stem and bending them over a narrow bamboo slat. The leaves are sown to the slat with the split stem of buri. The shingles are then lashed on to the framework of the roof with rattan. The posts of the house (haligi) are made from molave or from ipil or bamboo. Holes are dug for the posts and kept firmly in place by a circle of buried rock. Once the posts are in place, the floor is assembled. The floor is made of thin bamboo slats spaced evenly. Light and air pass through the floors to cool anyone sleeping on its slats. At the same time, garbage is thrown out through the gaps. The walls of the bahay kubo, which tend to be tall as they are long (kubo or cube), are assembled on the ground. Split bamboos are woven together to form sawali. Other materials such as nipa, coconut leaves, cogon grass and anahaw leaves are used to weave into walls. Doors are attached to a post with rattan hinges. Shutters made of thatched nipa or talahib shingles can be pushed out to open the window. These are propped up by bamboo sticks notched on one end to rest on the windowsill.

     The bahay kubo eventually evolved into the bahay na bato. By then, the Spaniards had arrived on our shores and had greatly influenced our existing way of life. Now, there were such rooms as the kusina, the beranda and the silid and the bahay na bato was home to a new generation of Filipinos. END
(From Philippine Ancestral Houses by, Fernando N. Zialcita and, Martin I. Tinio, Jr., GCF Books)