MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur (PIA)--Traders from the municipality of Balindong saw an opportunity from the Marawi crisis to step up and provide goods and services to nearby communities.

In an interview with Communications Sec. Martin Andanar during Tuesday's episode of Network Briefing News, Balindong Mayor Benjamin Bagul said the municipality became a trading hub when the Marawi crisis happened.

"Noong nangyari ang Marawi crisis, we utilized that, parang nakita namin na it is our opportunity na maexpand ang trading activities ng Balindong," he said.

[When the Marawi crisis happened, we utilized that, we saw that as our opportunity to expand the trading activities of Balindong.]

He said most of the people from nearby municipalities during that time went to Balindong for their needs instead of going to the cities of Marawi and Iligan.

Apart from trading, Balindong is also one of the agricultural producers in the province.

"Our major crop is corn. Pero Balindong is also known for white scallion, yung ginagawa ng Meranaw into 'palapa' (condiment)," Bagul said.

The palapa, according to him, is also brought to other Muslim communities in the country as this has become part of the Meranaw cuisine.

Since the major livelihood in the municipality is on agriculture, Bagul further shared that the local government has initiated programs to support local farmers including but not limited to distribution of farm inputs.

Farmers were also taught how to shift from corn production to other vegetable crops such as tomato and bell pepper. (APB/PIA-ICIC)