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The Central Tagbanwa of Philippines

The Central Tagbanwa of Philippines, numbering approximately 4,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are one of the Philippines' oldest indigenous peoples of Palawan, possibly descended from Tabon Man, whose own Central Tagbanwa language has given way among many speakers to Cuyonon, the trade tongue Cuyo Island settlers spread across the province. They mostly adhere to Animism and Cuyonon is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Cuyonon (cyo)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 4,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007660
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Pray for the Central Tagbanwa of Philippines

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Cuyonon
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Cuyonon Speakers

Media Resources in Cuyonon:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Cuyonon:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Cuyonon bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Central Tagbanwa 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 Central Tagbanwa:
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 Central Tagbanwa of Philippines

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
readPsalm 22:26

Pray that the lost will feel a deep hunger for God, be drawn to Him in their affliction, and find lasting satisfaction and salvation in Him alone.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
readPsalm 57:11

Pray that the lost will learn about God's great love and faithfulness so that they might trust in Christ for their salvation.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be humble and give glory to God through their good deeds.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.
read1 Corinthians 9:23

Ask God to give believers a deep desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the truth about God's redemption plan, and to provide them with opportunities to do so cross-culturally.

Tagbanwa, Central Across Countries (ROP3 - 101937) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Central TagbanwaPG007660Central TagbanwaPhilippines4,500Engaged yet UnreachedCuyononAnimism

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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