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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Arumanen Manobo of Philippines

The Arumanen Manobo of Philippines, numbering approximately 21,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Lumad people of North Cotabato in Mindanao speaking the Ilianen Manobo language, tracing their origin to a founding settlement at Banubu near the mouth of the Pulangi River They are an Indigenous people, with Manobo as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Filipino Tribal people cluster of the Malay Peoples. They mostly adhere to Animism and Ilianen Manobo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Ilianen Manobo (mbi)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 21,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007731
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Pray for the Arumanen Manobo 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ilianen Manobo
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Manobo, Ilianen Speakers

Media Resources in Ilianen Manobo:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Ilianen Manobo:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Ilianen Manobo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Arumanen Manobo 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 Arumanen Manobo:
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 Arumanen Manobo of Philippines

For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
readEphesians 5:8

Pray that those who are lost will turn from the darkness they are walking in and embrace the light, becoming children of light who bear fruit in every good work.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
readPsalm 127:3

Pray that God will bless this generation of children, that they will come to know Jesus early in life and follow Him always.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in what God has done for them and will help others know how they can also be reconciled to God.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sends me, even so I am sending you."
readJohn 20:21

Ask God to raise up and send out believers cross-culturally who will go out in His authority and be sustained by His peace as they share the gospel with the lost.

Manobo, Ilianen Across Countries (ROP3 - 103992) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Arumanen ManoboPG007731Arumanen ManoboPhilippines21,000No Longer UnreachedIlianen ManoboAnimism

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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