During World War II, many heritage districts and towns outside Metro Manila were heavily destroyed and damaged by American and Japanese bombs. Reports of deliberate burning of colonial structures by Japanese soldiers were also rampant. Most destroyed or damaged heritage structures have never been restored and now lay in ruins or have been replaced with shanty houses or concrete structures with no significant architectural aesthetics. Many scholars have championed for Japan and America's accountability for the destruction of many Filipino architectural landscapes and towns, but to no avail.