The Aeta Negrito of Philippines

The Aeta Negrito of Philippines, numbering approximately 52,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous people group of the Philippines (Luzon) They are an Indigenous people, in the Filipino Tribal people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Animism. They primarily speak Sambal, Botolan.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Aeta Negrito

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Sambal, Botolan (sbl)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Animism
Population: 52,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007609
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Pray for the Aeta Negrito of Philippines

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sambal, Botolan
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Sambal, Botolan Speakers

Media Resources in Sambal, Botolan:

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Bible Resources in Sambal, Botolan:

Or check out the Sambal, Botolan bible resources at Bible.com

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Next steps for the Aeta Negrito

The Aeta Negrito are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Aeta Negrito

The Aeta Negrito 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.

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

Next steps for the Aeta Negrito

The Aeta Negrito are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Aeta Negrito of Philippines

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
readTitus 3:3

Pray for those who seek worldly pleasures instead of God to flee from sin and choose God’s goodness and lovingkindness by placing their faith in Jesus.

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.

And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
readActs 16:15

Pray that God will bring entire families and households to faith in Him and raise up servant-leaders from among them.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Negrito, Aeta (ROP3 - 100085) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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