Hundreds of marginalized farmers, including former supporters of the New People’s Army and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters who had pledged allegiance to the government, had received durian seedlings, corn and rice seeds from the provincial government of Cotabato.

Provincial officials said on Saturday, July 12, that the agricultural inputs dispersal is part of a humanitarian intervention program of the office of Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño Mendoza, meant to boost the productivity of Muslim and Christian farmers in towns under her jurisdiction.

Senior employees of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg) in Cotabato province told reporters on Saturday that they have distributed corn and rice seeds and durian seedlings to 474 farmers in Barangays Pangao-an and in Dalingaoen in Magpet and Pikit municipalities, respectively, during their July 10 to 11 outreach missions in the two areas.

The NPA and the BIFF once had bastions in Magpet and in the Moro-dominated Pikit that are now recognized as “peace zones” after hundreds of members and supporters of the two groups in both towns surrendered in recent years through the joint intercession of municipal and provincial officials and Army and police units in Cotabato province.

Some of the 474 farmers who benefited from the outreach mission of the Cotabato governor’s office, all from highland ethnic tribes, received from OPAg employees 25 durian seedlings each.

Brig. Gen. Ricky Bunayog, commander of the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade that has a unit securing Pikit, told reporters on Saturday that the dispersal of rice and corn seedlings to farmers in Dalingaoen complemented their peace and security programs in the area, partly focused on activities intended to boost the socio-economic development of the local communities.

Photo show farmers waiting for their turns to receive free corn and rice seeds and durian seedlings from employees of the OPAg under the office of Cotabato’s provincial governor. (July 12, 2025)