AT LEAST 235 people in Barangay Lawaan, a remote village in Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental, were provided with essential farming tools on 2 December 2025 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help improve their productivity after regaining access to their farms.
The affected families are reeling from the consequences of an armed conflict that broke out in July. Tribal chieftain Rogelio Mendoza, a 68-year-old farmer, recalled hearing loud gunfire and explosions.
“It was a very scary experience for us,” he said. “It was difficult. We lost our source of income because we couldn’t go to our farms.” Despite living in fear, he did not want to leave his village because he wanted to stay close to his farm.
As part of its mandate, the ICRC engages in confidential and bilateral dialogues with parties to the conflict to address the humanitarian consequences of the armed conflict. As such, after a thorough assessment of the situation in Lawaan, the ICRC supported the restoration of the community’s access to their lands so they could re-engage in farming activities which were disrupted by the hostilities.
In addition, ICRC staff, with support from volunteers of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC)-Gingoog chapter, provided the villagers with farming tools. It was in December when the ICRC and the PRC brought several carabaos (water buffaloes) to deliver the farming items. With the guidance of Lawaan residents, ICRC and PRC personnel navigated the muddy roads, which were not passable to motor vehicles, that led to the distant village.
The farming items, composed of machetes, digging bars, backpack sprayers, and pickaxes, will help the villagers improve their productivity, boost their income, and enhance their living conditions.
The ICRC also gave cash grants to each family in October so they could meet their essential needs. Additional cash grants were given during the distribution of farming tools in December to help farmers pay for labor costs and other expenses.
Mendoza said he looks forward to using the farming tools that he received. “I am planning to clean my farm and plant some root crops and bananas,” he said.
