63-Year-Old Farmer Found Dead in Bukidnon Cornfield After Guarding His Crop Overnight — Then Police Learned What Happened That Night

KIBAWE, BUKIDNON — What was supposed to be a night spent protecting a family’s corn harvest ended in tragedy after a 63-year-old farmer was found dead inside a cornfield in Kibawe, Bukidnon, with what authorities believe was a gunshot wound.

The farmer was discovered at around 8 a.m. on August 21 in Purok 7, Nabunturan, Barangay Pinamula, Kibawe, according to a report from Bombo Radyo Malaybalay citing the Bukidnon Police Provincial Office and the Kibawe Municipal Police Station.

Police said the victim had gone to the family’s farm the previous afternoon, August 20, to watch over their cornfield because of concerns about possible corn theft.

He failed to return home that night.

His family became worried when he was still missing the following morning and eventually found him lying in the cornfield. Authorities reported a wound believed to have been caused by a gunshot in the lower portion of his right armpit.

Family reportedly heard four gunshots

Adding another disturbing detail to the case, a barangay official reportedly said the victim’s family heard four consecutive gunshots during the night he failed to come home.

Police have not publicly identified a suspect, and the motive remains undetermined.

The Kibawe Municipal Police Station is coordinating with the Provincial Forensic Unit in Malaybalay City for crime-scene examination as investigators work to establish exactly what happened and identify the person or persons responsible.

Investigation now focuses on the farm

The circumstances surrounding the killing remain under investigation.

Authorities have yet to establish whether the shooting was connected to the victim’s presence in the cornfield, a dispute, theft, or another motive. Until investigators release additional findings, those possibilities should be treated only as investigative questions—not established facts.

The incident is particularly striking because the victim had reportedly gone to the farm for a practical reason: to protect the family’s corn crop from thieves.

Corn farming is an important part of agriculture in Bukidnon. Previous Philippine Daily Inquirer reporting documented corn production and farming challenges across northern Mindanao, including Kibawe and other Bukidnon municipalities.

The case also comes amid other recent violent incidents involving farmers and elderly residents in Bukidnon. In July, the Inquirer reported that an 82-year-old farmer in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon was found dead at a remote farmhouse with multiple stab wounds. Police in that case were also pursuing leads to determine who was responsible.

However, there is no indication from the available reports that the two incidents are connected, and investigators have not announced such a link.

For now, the central questions remain unanswered: Who fired the shots? Why was the farmer targeted? And what happened during the hours between his arrival at the cornfield and the discovery of his body the next morning?

Police continue to investigate.