01
Meranao
The Meranao are strongly associated with Lake Lanao and Lanao del Sur. BCPCH describes the name as meaning people of the lake, with cultural life tied to Marawi, lake communities, textiles, metalwork, woodcraft, and the torogan.
People
Peoples and communities of Bangsamoro
Meet the Moro, Indigenous, and settler communities that shape Bangsamoro public life.
BCPCH groups the Bangsamoro People into Islamized ethnolinguistic groups, Indigenous peoples, and settler communities. Use the source links for deeper reading and keep local context in view.
People and communities
Groups listed by BCPCH
The Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (BCPCH) is the regional body that documents, preserves, and promotes Bangsamoro cultural heritage. Its Bangsamoro People page groups the region’s communities into Islamized ethnolinguistic groups, Indigenous peoples, and settler communities. Each note below is written as a short public guide and points back to BCPCH where a source page is available.
Islamized ethnolinguistic groups
BCPCH lists 13 Moro ethnolinguistic groups under this category. They are connected by Islam and Bangsamoro identity, but each has its own language, homeland, history, and cultural practice.
02
Maguindanaon
The Maguindanaon are associated with the Pulangi River valley, Maguindanao, Cotabato, and nearby provinces. BCPCH notes lower-valley and upper-valley groups linked to the Sultanate of Maguindanao and the Rajahship of Buayan.
03
Iranun
The Iranun are closely related culturally and linguistically to the Meranao and Maguindanaon. BCPCH places many Iranun communities along the Illana Bay coast, Maguindanao, Zamboanga del Sur, and wider maritime routes.
04
Yakan
The Yakan are concentrated in Basilan, including Lamitan, Tipo-Tipo, Sumisip, and Tuburan. BCPCH highlights farming, upland rice cultivation, community religious leadership, weaving, and colorful traditional dress.
05
Tausug
The Tausug are the dominant group of the Sulu archipelago in BCPCH accounts, with communities in Jolo, Indanan, Siasi, Patikul, and beyond. Their name is linked to Jolo, Sulu, coastal and interior dialects, and Sulu political history.
06
Sama
Sama communities form a wide island and coastal ethnolinguistic world across Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Zamboanga, and nearby seas. The name covers many local identities, languages, and maritime or coastal livelihoods.
07
Sama di Laut
Sama di Laut communities are often associated with sea-oriented life, navigation, fishing, boat culture, diving, and coastal settlement. BCPCH lists them separately from Sama in its Bangsamoro People page.
08
Jama Mapun
The Jama Mapun are native to Mapun, formerly Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi, and Turtle Islands, with communities also found in northern Palawan and nearby islands. BCPCH notes a Sama-Bajau language and Muslim identity.
09
Kagan/Kalagan
The Kagan or Kalagan are Islamized communities in Davao and neighboring areas. BCPCH describes cultural contact and intermarriage with Tausug and Maguindanaon communities, with language links to Tagakaolo, Tausug, and Maguindanaon.
10
Kolibugan
BCPCH describes Kolibugan identity as connected to Subanun communities who intermarried with Tausug and Sama communities in western Mindanao. Their culture shares elements with Subanun, Tausug, and Sama traditions.
11
Sangil
Sangil communities are found in Balut, Sarangani, and parts of coastal South Cotabato and Davao del Sur. BCPCH links their ancestry to Sangihe in eastern Indonesia and notes an Austronesian language with affinity to Sama.
12
Molbog
The Molbog are associated with Balabac and southern Palawan. BCPCH describes links to North Borneo, contact with Tausug traders, Islamization, subsistence farming, fishing, barter trade, and lexical ties with Sama, Tausug, and Palawano.
13
Palawanon
BCPCH lists Palawanon among the Islamized ethnolinguistic groups and describes Palawan as rich in languages, culture, and archaeological memory, with many Palawanon communities living along upland rivers and some along the coast.
Indigenous peoples
BCPCH lists Teduray, Lambangian, and Manobo Dulangan under Indigenous People. These communities are central to any accurate account of Bangsamoro land, ancestry, customary practice, and cultural governance.
01
Teduray
BCPCH describes coastal, river, and mountain Teduray clans with distinct dialect variations. Teduray communities are found in Upi, South Upi, Dinaig, Ampatuan, Sultan Kudarat, and North Cotabato, with farming, hunting, fishing, basket weaving, and Indigenous customs.
02
Lambangian
BCPCH lists the Lambangian as an Indigenous people of the Bangsamoro. They are often discussed with Teduray and Dulangan Manobo communities in mainland Mindanao cultural, ancestral domain, and Indigenous governance contexts.
03
Manobo Dulangan
BCPCH identifies Manobo Dulangan under Indigenous People and describes Manobo communities in the Cotabato Cordillera, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, South Cotabato, and Sarangani, with Dulangan Manobo linked to mountain communities.
Settler communities
BCPCH also names settler communities, recognizing that the region has been shaped by migration, commerce, education, public service, and urban life alongside Moro and Indigenous histories.
01
Visaya
BCPCH lists Visaya under settler communities. In a BARMM public guide, this points to Visayan migration, settlement, labor, trade, family networks, and everyday civic life in different parts of Mindanao.
02
Tagalog
BCPCH lists Tagalog under settler communities and describes Tagalog as one of the country's largest ethnolinguistic groups, with Filipino language and national public life shaped by Tagalog and Manila-based variants.
03
Chinese
BCPCH lists Chinese under settler communities. Chinese and Chinese-Filipino families and networks have long been part of trade, commerce, town life, and local public economies in Mindanao.
04
Other settler communities
BCPCH uses an open-ended "Etc." category. This should be read carefully: local histories include other families and communities whose stories need documentation from municipal, provincial, and community sources.
References: BCPCH Bangsamoro People, BCPCH mandate, BCPCH digital publications