The Bolinao Sambal of Philippines

The Bolinao Sambal of Philippines, numbering approximately 71,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous Bolinawnon community of western Pangasinan centered in Bolinao and Anda, whose Bolinao language belongs to the Sambalic group of Central Luzon languages. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Bolinao is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Bolinao (smk)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 71,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007643
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bolinao Sambal 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

66%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bolinao
Language Family: Austronesian

69%
%
Bolinao Speakers

Media Resources in Bolinao:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Bolinao:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Bolinao bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bolinao Sambal 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.

Next steps for the Bolinao Sambal:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Bolinao Sambal of Philippines

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
readPsalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
readPsalm 34:8

Pray that the gospel will advance and that many will have the opportunity to taste and see the goodness of God and entrust their lives to Him.

"...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
readMatthew 16:18b

Pray that God will build and grow His Church among this people.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
readMatthew 6:9b-10

Pray that God will raise up Christians who are driven by a desire to see God's name worshiped, His kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Ask Him to send them to the lost in this people group and sustain them.

Sambal, Bolinao Across Countries (ROP3 - 101566) 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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