Islam actually spread throughout the Philippines. In the 14th century, Islamic missionaries from Malaysia and Indonesia came to Mindanao to establish sultanates in the archipelago, specifically in Sulu and Sabah. These then spread throughout the country, to the central Visayas and Northern Luzon, such that Maynilad (modern day Manila) was originally a walled Moro city.
However, the Spaniards landed and converted most of the islands to Christianity. The Spaniards landed in northern Visayas, the northern islands, and converted the Muslim and other indigenous tribes. However they were stopped in central Visayas by Lapulapu.
In the succeeding missions, the Spaniards moved northwards to Luzon, and converted almost all of Luzon and most of the Visayas to Christianity, but got stopped at Cebu at Mactan and avoided pushing too far down there because of the fierce resistance from the muslim fighters who took after Lapu Lapu’s example. As a result, they weren't able to convert most of Mindanao in the southern islands. That's why Islam is only solid in the southern islands, but not so much in the central and northern islands.
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