The Eastern Bontoc of Philippines

The Eastern Bontoc of Philippines, numbering approximately 7,400 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an Austronesian-speaking indigenous group from the Mountain Province of northern Luzon, Philippines and can also be known as Southern Bontoc. They are an Indigenous people, with Bontoc as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Filipino Tribal people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Roman Catholicism. They primarily speak Bontok, Eastern.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Bontok, Eastern (ebk)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 7,400
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007670
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Eastern Bontoc 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

72%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bontok, Eastern
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%

Media Resources in Bontok, Eastern:

Films:

No language code (ROL) found for this post.

Bible Resources in Bontok, Eastern:

The filter value is not set for this post.

Or check out the Bontok, Eastern bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Marginally Reached People Group, (LPI: 4), 3% to 6% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical (GSEC: 5), this people group is greater than or equal to 5% evangelical

Next steps for the Eastern Bontoc:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Eastern Bontoc 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 Eastern Bontoc:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Eastern Bontoc 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 Eastern Bontoc:
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 Eastern Bontoc of Philippines

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"
readJohn 4:13-14

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will drink of the living water that only Christ can provide and never thirst again.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
readJohn 8:12

Pray that many will come to know Jesus, the light of the world, and have the light of life instead of walking in darkness.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
readJohn 14:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hope in trials because they know that Jesus will one day take them to be with Him forever.

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
readActs 17:29

Pray that God will send out laborers to tell people of the one true God and, as the good news is shared, bring about repentance and belief as they turn from idols and follow Jesus.

Bontoc, Eastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 102867) 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.

Scroll to Top