The Babuyan Islands Ivatan of the Philippines

The Babuyan Islands Ivatan of the Philippines, numbering approximately 2,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of the Philippines and can also be known as Ibatan, Bashic Ibatan. They are an Indigenous people, in the Filipino Tribal people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Ibatan.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Babuyan Islands Ivatan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: the Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Ibatan (ivb)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007628
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ibatan
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Ibatan Speakers

Media Resources in Ibatan:

Films:

No entries found for: Ibatan(ivb). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Ibatan:

Or check out the Ibatan bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Babuyan Islands Ivatan

The Babuyan Islands Ivatan 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 Babuyan Islands Ivatan

The Babuyan Islands Ivatan 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 Babuyan Islands Ivatan

The Babuyan Islands Ivatan 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 Babuyan Islands Ivatan of the Philippines

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
readPsalm 9:9-10

Pray that God will help those who are oppressed and without hope to hear the good news of Jesus and trust in Him, for He has never forsaken those who seek Him.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
readPsalm 37:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will delight themselves in the Lord, trusting Him to give them the desires of their hearts.

Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
readLuke 10:3

Ask God to raise up and send humble believers who will depend on Him as they go out like lambs among wolves to share the good news with those who need to hear it.

Ivatan, Babuyan Islands (ROP3 - 100701) 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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