bigmac and Slip,

Visa applications from Philippines need to be made online. Period
This is for UKBA immigration data record keeping in addition to various electronic checks (globally). Thats the reason.
The printed copies of the application and the Appendix will be signed and dated by the applicant when submitted in person to the VFS application centre. VFS will add their security mark and date stamp. Your hard copy application bundle will then be forwarded to the Manila Hub for processing.

The issue with online data is that it can be falsified, corrupted, modified and/or lost etc
The online data is for record/achive only.
Same with the documents that must be orginals. Copied/scanned documents can be falsified, corrupted, modified etc

When the online form is completed the various 'fields' are input manually by the applicant or the responses are selected by 'drop-down' menus' then saved. Just like any online form.