The Sarangani Manobo of Philippines

The Sarangani Manobo of Philippines, numbering approximately 75,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are one of eight Manobo subgroups of Mindanao in the Philippines, descended from early Malay migrants and traditionally called river people, led by a datu in swidden-farming villages sited near forests and rivers. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Sarangani Manobo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Sarangani Manobo (mbs)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 75,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007767
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Pray for the Sarangani 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sarangani Manobo
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Manobo, Sarangani Speakers

Media Resources in Sarangani Manobo:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Sarangani Manobo:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Sarangani Manobo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sarangani 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 Sarangani 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 Sarangani Manobo of Philippines

You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
readPsalm 65:9

Give thanks for God's provision in nature, and pray that those who don't know Him will recognize His hand, desire to know their Creator, and hear the truth that Jesus is the solution to the world's greatest need.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
readPsalm 2:10-11

Pray for the rulers and authorities here to seek the Lord and serve Him only. Pray that the people they lead will be amazed by the work of God in their lives.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
readRomans 10:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and sometimes have doubts, God will help them remember and trust the power of Jesus to save them from their sins.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
readPsalm 15:1-2

Ask God to send believers who will go and, with integrity, walk blamelessly and do what is right, speaking truth about the Lord with those who need to learn about His redemption plan.

Manobo, Sarangani Across Countries (ROP3 - 108716) 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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