The Southern Itneg of Philippines

The Southern Itneg of Philippines, numbering approximately 22,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Indigenous Itneg (Tinguian) people of Abra's southern uplands who are part of the wider Cordilleran ethnolinguistic tradition and trace their identity to communities that moved into the interior highlands of northern Luzon. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Maeng Itneg is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Southern Itneg

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Maeng Itneg (itt)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 22,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007772
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Southern Itneg 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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

64%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Maeng Itneg
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Itneg, Maeng Speakers

Media Resources in Maeng Itneg:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Maeng Itneg:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Maeng Itneg bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Southern Itneg 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 Southern Itneg:
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 Southern Itneg of Philippines

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
readPsalm 20:7

Pray for those who trust in anything other than the Lord to be convicted of their sin and learn about what Jesus did for them so that they can choose to trust in Him.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."
readJohn 6:35

Pray that the lost will come to Jesus and believe in Him, never to hunger or thirst again.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be humble and give glory to God through their good deeds.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Itneg, Maeng Across Countries (ROP3 - 109483) 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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