Agronomic and morphological characteristics of fourteen (14) local upland rice cultivars of Arakan Valley, Cotabato, Philippines were evaluated to determine desirable traits in improving upland rice production and for future breeding purposes. Traditional upland rice seeds differ in shape, size, colour and aroma. Azucena and Kapalawan have longer grains of 9-12 mm and the smallest grain was from Mal-os of 5.5-8 mm. Bungulan, Ulipapa, and Magalitok cultivars have medium size grain of about 8-11 mm. Azucena and Bungulan have translucent caryopsis and aromatic. Mubpon had medium grain size and semi-aromatic and Dinorado had aromatic pinkish to purplish caryopsis and medium size grain. Hinumay and Azucena have the tallest height among rice cultivars with 126.5 and 127 cm, respectively. Malundiang got the shortest height of 91 cm. Kawilan got the highest number of tillers with 6.5 and 5 panicles per plant. Malundiang cultivar flowered early at 65-70 days while Azucena and Kawilan have late flowering of more than 90 days after planting. Magalitok had the longest panicle with 31.06 cm and the shortest panicle was measured from Malundiang with 16.63 cm. Ulipapa had the highest 1,000-grain weight of 28.54 g while Manisi got the lowest grain weight of 15.33 g only. The result of the study showed variation in the agro-morphological characteristics of the indigenous upland rice. Bungulan, Ulipapa, Malundiang, Mubpon, Sinulid and Kawilan have potential agronomic characteristics in improving upland rice production in the IP community. Dinorado, Hinumay, and Azucena have been planted by the local farmers for its desirable grain characteristics and aroma.