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The Arumanen Manobo of Philippines

The Arumanen Manobo of Philippines, numbering approximately 21,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are 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 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 the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that those who do know about God's free gift will hear and believe that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and that they will joyfully accept this gift.

"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."
readMatthew 5:13

Pray that the lost will have the opportunity to hear a Christian witness of how the gospel can bring hope and that they will put their faith in Christ.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
readMatthew 18:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged as they remember that Jesus is with them when they gather in His name.

Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
readLuke 10:3

Ask God to raise up and send humble believers who will depend on Him as they go out like lambs among wolves to share the good news with those who need to hear it.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▲LanguageReligion
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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