The Ilongot of Philippines

The Ilongot of Philippines, numbering approximately 103,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bugkalot (Ilongot) people of the Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountains in northern Luzon, Philippines, whose traditional headhunting rite of avenging grief through raids persisted until the 1970s. They mostly adhere to Animism and Ilongot is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Ilongot (ilk)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 103,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007687
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Ilongot 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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

77%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ilongot
Language Family: Austronesian

69%
%
Bogkalot Speakers

Media Resources in Ilongot:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Ilongot:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Ilongot bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Ilongot 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 Ilongot:
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 Ilongot of Philippines

Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
readJerremiah 32:17

Pray that the God who made the heavens and the earth by the power of His outstretched arm, the One who is able to save those who are lost, will show His great love and mercy to those who are walking in darkness.

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 these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
readDeuteronomy 6:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hide God's Word in their hearts, let it shape their conversations and daily lives, and pass on their faith to the next generation.

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
readJohn 1:35-36

Pray for those God sends to cross cultures to share the gospel, that they might faithfully share the good news of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Ilongot Across Countries (ROP3 - 103999) 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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