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

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
readMatthew 11:28

Pray for those who are tired, weary, and burdened by the weight of sin to encounter Jesus and experience the rest that only He can give.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 3:23

Pray that the gospel will advance and many will acknowledge that all have sinned, fall short of God's glory, and need a Savior to reconcile them to God.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
readHebrew 4:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will boldly draw near to God as they approach Him in prayer, receive His mercy, and find grace for help in their time of need.

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.

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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