Loreto is surrounded by places which are populated by groups who are marked by speech intonations and dialects. The diversity is remarkable for these groups live only within short distances from each other. 

    In the hilly parts of the West--in the barrio of Kasapa along Adgawan River--are groups who speak the same Agusan Manobo language but with distinct dialectal variations in phonology, speech intonation, and vocabulary. Manobos in Loreto clearly distinguish themselves from them. Towards the less explored area of the central mountain range of Mindanao live the Bukidnon and Pulangihon-Umayamnon speakers. Current Manobos in Loreto have relatives from those places and this suggests that Agusan Manobos in Loreto (i.e., Manobos of downstream Umayam River) have had relationships with those people upstream. To the east, in places along the Highway reside peoples who speak a language (Butwanon) similar to that in Talacogon and Butu-an (each of these languages is indigenous to Caraga region, but Manobos refer to them as dagatnon or “coastal” languages). In the South, further upstream in Agusan River of Davao province, live the Dibabawen and the Mandaya, the former of which is quite similar to the Agusan Manobo language.

    Cross cultural exchanges between the Agusan Manobos and the aforementioned neighboring groups have been constant and intensive throughout history. Each group perceives the others’ cultural differences and music has been one of the ways by which these differences are marked and relationally identified.

    Today, Loreto is thoroughly Visayanized. Cebuano, a regional language in Eastern Visayans, has been the lingua franca of the place, manifesting regional domination of the area. This has practically endangered the many authoctonous languages in this part of Mindanao Island.