Allegations of bribery and intimidation rose after Piñol's closed-door dialogue with the 22 fishermen at a home in Occidental Mindoro

Facing the media after the meeting, the boat captain said he was unsure if the Chinese vessel intentionally hit their boat at midnight on June 9, contrary to his earlier pronouncements. Junel Insigne, captain of F/B Gem-Ver which sank after being hit by a Chinese vessel near Reed Bank, seemed in a daze after the meeting with Piñol.

June

2019

Piñol hit for using government funds for to boost the campaign of his daughter, siblings and political allies in North Cotabato

In a statement, Association of Free Framers (AFF) Vice President Teody De Belen said his group, which is composed of farmers and fisherfolks, criticized Pinol for using most of the projects under the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) under the DA and concentrated these in North Cotabato province to enhance the campaign of daughter Ma. Krista Piñol, who is running for Board Member in the second district, his siblings Socrates Piñol who is running for Vice Governor, Efren Piñol who is running as congressman for 2nd district, Bernardo Piñol Jr., for Kidapawan City Mayor and Joselito Piñol who is running for Vice Mayor of Mlang. ?Why is Secretary Piñol concentrating on just one province and using government projects to help boost the campaign of his allies,? De Belen said.

February

2019

To allay fears of health risks, Piñol offered to eat the bukbok-infested rice and galunggong, speculated to be unsafe for consumption due to formalin contamination, provoking backlash from the public

Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol sought to ease public concerns over consuming weevil-infested rice and galunggong (round scad) by sampling them himself on live television on Friday, August 31. Piñol paired the rice with galunggong which was in the news as well as its imported version supposedly contained formalin. The DA allowed imports of galunggong to maintain a steady supply in markets as closed fishing season neared.

September

2018

Piñol floats the idea to ?legalize? or ?make legitimate? rice smuggling

August, 2018 - In an Aug. 28 interview on ABS-CBN News Channel's Headstart, he said: ?I?m making a proposal: Kasi tradisyon sa kanila ?yung umasa ng bigas sa kabila eh, so sabi ko (Since it?s tradition in the area to smuggle rice), rather than allow smuggling, an illegal activity, to continue, we might as well legalize it.? September, 2018 - Piñol, recently in the news for sampling bukbok (weevil)-infested rice, complained in a Sept. 3 open letter to Communications Secretary Martin Andanar: ?I am deeply disappointed that a reporter of PTV4, a government television channel, would cause further misunderstanding and confusion on a very important issue by asking President Rody Duterte whether he approves of my proposal to ?legalize rice smuggling? in the ZAMBASULTA (Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi) area.?

August

2018

Piñol sues newsman over ?libelous? FB post

Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol has filed a cyber-libel complaint against a Baguio City-based journalist for alleging in a Facebook post that the official got richer by P21 million. Named respondent in the complaint filed Wednesday was Frank Cimatu, who uploaded on his Facebook account a post that said: "Agri sec got rich by P21-M in 6 months. Bird flu pa more."

September

2017

Piñol concedes; accuses foe in Cotabato Governor post of vote-buying

Former Cotabato governor Emmanuel Piñol had conceded defeat Tuesday afternoon to incumbent Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza. Piñol, however, said his rival won by giving away rice and money to entice the voters, a claim refuted by the latter. In his website, Piñol wrote: ?It is painful to realize that many of the people I loved and cared for succumbed to the temptations of rice and money.?

May

2013

"Duterte had earlier said that if he would become President of the Philippines, the Death Penalty for heinous crimes and for plunder will be re-imposed. The grim crime statistics and the call of the young students from Cebu City for Duterte to lead the country could prove to be a game changer. With three weeks to go before the deadline for the filing of the Certificates of Candidacy for President, Duterte could yet be moved by the recent developments and finally decide to lead the country."

September

2015

"I don't see any reason why this isolated incident should change our policies. There's peace in that area," Piñol said in a press briefing on Monday, 8 days after the sinking incident.

June

2019

?The MILF rebels had razed down houses, killed innocent civilians, and plundered the farm animals and other belongings of the villagers. Such were clear acts of terrorism. By doing these criminal acts, they reduced themselves to being terrorists,"

August

2008

?Last night, we all heard the pained admission of President Duterte that our government is now in dire straits financially because of the expense required in combating the Covid-19 pandemic. Everything is at a standstill and our government could not sustain this if the quarantine protocols and lockdowns continue. I believe it is in areas unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic where we should initiate Mindanao's effort to support our President. Let us support our President by restarting our production engines. Let us produce more food so that the country will not run out of supplies."

April

2020

?We can?t depend on imported rice because even Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos have their own shares of calamities. It?s because of this that we should achieve food sufficiency, because we don?t know when the next El Niño would hit us or what countries would be affected by the El Niño. Why are we focusing on rice production? The El Niño has given us a lesson. Climate change has made everything unpredictable for agriculture,?

August

2016

"[We are] generating cutting edge agricultural innovations, vigorously guided by science and supported by policies. The slow internet connectivity is the main problem right now [as well as] the promotion of this technology especially in the provinces,?

July

2018