More than two in every five MIMAROPAns have Tagalog as ethnicity

Of the 3.23 million total population in the MIMAROPA Region as of 12:01 a.m. of  01 May 2020, 42.2 percent reported Tagalog as their ethnicity. Other major ethnicities in the region were Cuyonen/Cuyunon (9.6%), Bisaya/Binisaya (9.5%), Romblomanon (6.1%), Ilonggo (5.0%), Ilocano (3.7%), Palawan-o (3.6%), Bantoanon and Cebuano (1.8% each), and Mangyan-Hanunuo (1.3%). (Figure 1 and Table 1) 

Marinduque is the most homogenous province in terms of ethnicity 

Among provinces, Marinduque was the most homogenous in terms of ethnicity, as more than 19 in every 20 residents in the province (96.7%) reported Tagalog as their ethnicity. Next was Oriental Mindoro with 76.7 percent Tagalogs. Tagalog was also the top ethnicity in Occidental Mindoro at 53.7 percent. (Table 2) 

In other provinces in the region, Romblomanon was the most common ethnicity in Romblon as reported by nearly three in every 5 residents in the province (58.9%). Meanwhile, Cuyonen / Cuyunon was the most common ethnicity in Palawan and in the region’s lone highly urbanized City of Puerto Princesa with the corresponding share of 24.1 percent and 27.0 percent to the province / highly urbanized city’s total population.  (Table 2) 

Among 3,228,558 persons in the MIMAROPA Region, 2,331,639 persons or 

72.2 percent were classified as non-Indigenous Peoples (non-IPs). The remaining 896,843 MIMAROPAns were belonging to ethnic groups solely identified by the 

National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) as Indigenous Peoples with 

800,263 persons (24.8%), ethnic groups recognized by the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) as Muslim tribes with 28,470 persons (0.9%), ethnic groups identified by both NCIP and NCMF as IPs and Muslim tribes with 63,804 persons (1.5%), and foreign ethnicities with 4,306 persons (0.1%). (Figure 2) 

At least one in every four MIMAROPAns belong to an IP Group 

In 2020, IPs identified by NCIP comprised 864,067 MIMAROPAns or 26.8 percent of the regional population. This includes 63,804 IPs who were identified as Muslim Tribes by NCMF.  The top 15 IP groups in the MIMAROPA Region accounted for about  98.2 percent of the total IPs. Cuyonen / Cuyunon ranked first with 309,235 persons (35.8%), followed by Palawan-o with 115,294 persons (13.3%), and Bantoanon with 58,409 persons (6.8%). (Table 3) 

Muslim tribes make up 2.9 percent of the MIMAROPA Region’s total population 

Muslim tribes identified by NCMF, including those tribes that were also identified as  IP Group by NCIP, accounted for 92,274 persons or 2.9 percent of the regional population in 2020. Among Muslim tribes, Jama Mapun accounted for 21,496 persons (23.3%). These were followed by Sama / Samal with 19,421 persons (21.0%), Molbog with 18,977 persons (20.6%), Tausog / Tausug with 12,926 persons (14.0%), and Palawani with 8,148 persons (8.8%). (Table 4) 

Nearly one in every four MIMAROPAns with foreign ethnicity are of Chinese descent 

In 2020, there were 4,306 persons in the MIMAROPAns who have a foreign ethnicity. This constituted 0.1 percent of the region’s total population. The top 10 foreign ethnicities accounted for 3,170 persons or 73.6 percent of the regional population with foreign ethnicity. Chinese ranked first with 1,022 persons and had 23.7 percent share among MIMAROPAns with foreign ethnicity. This were followed by American ethnicity with 417 persons (9.7% share), Swiss ethnicity with 392 persons (9.1% share), German ethnicity with 322 persons (7.5% share), and British ethnicity with  280 persons (6.5% share). (Table 5)

TECHNICAL NOTES 

1. I. Introduction 

The Philippine Statistics Authority conducted the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (2020 CPH) in September 2020, with 01 May 2020 as reference date. 

The 2020 CPH was the 15th census of population and 7th census of housing that was undertaken in the Philippines since the first census in 1903. It was designed to take inventory of the total population and housing units in the country and collect information about their characteristics. 

The Philippine Standard Geographic Codes as of March 2022 was used for the disaggregation of geographic levels of the 2020 CPH. 

1. II. Data Collection 

II.1      Ethnicity 

As defined in Section 3h, Chapter II, of Republic Act No. 8371, otherwise known as the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), Indigenous Peoples (IPs) refer to a group of people or homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by others, who have continuously lived as organized community on communally bounded and defined territory, and who have, under claims of ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed, and utilized such territories, sharing common bonds of language, customs, traditions, and other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social, and cultural inroads of colonization, nonindigenous religions and cultures, became historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos. 

IPs likewise include people who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, at the time of conquest or colonization, or at the time of inroads of non-indigenous and cultures, or the establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural, and political institutions, but who may have been displaced from their traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral domains. 

Generally, ethnic grouping denotes genealogical and paternal lineage to any of the Philippines' group of native population. However, for the purpose of census, ethnic grouping also includes maternal lineage. As such, anybody whose consanguinity with either both parents or any one of them who is a member of an IP group, is an Indigenous Person. 

The updated categories of ethnicity are provided by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos. 

II.2      Data Limitations 

The statistics presented in this report were based on the information provided by the respondent or any responsible household member who may provide accurate answers to the questions and give correct information about all the household members; hence, it should be used with caution. 

1. III. Methodology 

The population and housing censuses in the Philippines are conducted on a  “de jure” basis, wherein a person is counted in the usual place of residence or the place where the person usually resides. The enumeration of the population and collection of pertinent data in the 2020 CPH referred to all living persons as of 01 May 2020. 

For the 2020 CPH, data on the Ethnicity of all household members and institutional population were collected by asking the respondents, “What is _________'s ethnicity by descent / blood relation / consanguinity?”. 

1. IV. Concepts and Definition of Terms 

A household is a social unit consisting of a person living alone or a group of persons who sleep in the same housing unit and have a common arrangement in the preparation and consumption of food. 

Household population comprises of persons who belong to a household. 

Institutional living quarter (ILQ) is a structurally separate and independent place of abode intended for habitation by large groups of individuals. Such a quarter usually has certain common facilities such as a kitchen and dining room, toilet and bath, and lounging area which are shared by the occupants. 

Institutional population comprises of persons who are found living in ILQs. 

Ethnicity is a primary sense of belonging to an ethnic group based on descent/blood relation/consanguinity. Ethnic group is consanguineous in nature, meaning, the ties are reckoned by blood and traced through the family tree. Thus, ethnicity refers to the household member’s identity, by descent/blood relation/consanguinity and not by mere choice nor by adoption or confirmation by any ethnic group primarily the Indigenous Peoples (IPs).