A promise of bountiful corn harvest in few more weeks gives hope to farmers of Tugal, a barangay of Midsayap in North Cotabato that opted to join the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Tugal used to be the venue of clashes between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Farmers of this barangay, mostly Maguindanaoan, continue tilling the lands amid fear of the COVI19 pandemic. One farmer said in the vernacular, “If we will succumb to fear, we will go hungry.” Photo by JULES L. BENITEZ
