The Lapuyan Subanun of Philippines

The Lapuyan Subanun of Philippines, numbering approximately 120,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Subanen people of the Lapuyan and Margosatubig area of Zamboanga del Sur, maintaining a distinct Southern Subanen language and a local tradition of governance under timuay leaders. They mostly adhere to Animism and Southern Subanen is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Southern Subanen (laa)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 120,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007715
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Lapuyan Subanun of Philippines

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

91%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Southern Subanen
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Subanen, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Southern Subanen:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Southern Subanen:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Southern Subanen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Lapuyan Subanun 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 Lapuyan Subanun:
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 Lapuyan Subanun of Philippines

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 8:1

Pray that God will reassure those who may be struggling with the cost of following Jesus that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
readPsalm 104:8

Pray that they will see the hand of God in the beauty and order of the natural world, and that they will worship Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
readPsalm 51:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him, and God will help them to proclaim His praise and declare His goodness all day long.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

Pray that God will raise up believers who can share the gospel with people who don't know the good news of Jesus, that God is light and in him, there is no darkness at all.

Subanon, Lapuyan Across Countries (ROP3 - 105646) 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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