The Philippines is regarded as an oddity in Southeast Asia for retaining many elements from its former masters: the Spanish. However, from the perspective of "State formation" and its impact upon culture, Filipino responses have actually been complex anddialectical. Compare the experience of the Northern Vietnamese vis-a-vis China which colonized them for 1000 years with the Filipino experience vis-a-vis Spain. In both, colonization introduced the state and new political and religious thought
