The Masbateno of Philippines

The Masbateno of Philippines, numbering approximately 1,090,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of the Philippines They are an Indigenous people, with Masbateno as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Filipino, Central people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Roman Catholicism. They primarily speak Masbatenyo.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Masbateno

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino, Central
Primary Language(s): Masbatenyo (msb)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 1,090,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007738
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Masbateno of Philippines

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

64%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Masbatenyo
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Masbatenyo Speakers

Media Resources in Masbatenyo:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Masbatenyo:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Masbatenyo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Masbateno are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Masbateno:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Masbateno of Philippines

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:5

While there are many who do not yet praise God, pray that He will work in their lives, advance the gospel among them, and bring many to saving faith in Christ.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
readLamentations 3:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through trials, they will be satisfied with the Lord as their portion and will place all their hope in Him.

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.
readPsalm 96:4

Pray that God will raise up believers to declare His glory among the lost, so that they may know that He is great and greatly to be praised, that He is exalted above all gods.

Masbateno Across Countries (ROP3 - 106374) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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