Piñol stays at DA as Duterte doesn’t act on bid to resign

KORONADAL CITY — Agriculture Secretary Manuel Piñol said on Thursday (July 4) that President Rodrigo Duterte has not acted on his resignation that was tendered last week.

“As of the moment, the issue has been resolved,” Piñol said.

“The President has not acted on my resignation,” Piñol told reporters after an inter-agency meeting at the National Economic and Development Authority office here.

Piñol said he was grateful to President Rodrigo Duterte for saying he is not corrupt.

“To me, that is something that I am really proud of in my lifetime. And I will tell my children that the President of the Philippines said your father is not corrupt. That to me is a badge of honor,” he said.

When asked if he will be transferred to another office based in Mindanao, Piñol simply responded: “Thank you.”

“For as long as you see me working as Secretary of Agriculture, I am still here,” he said.

Last week, Piñol tendered his resignation as agriculture chief and expressed openness to being head of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), which also carries a Cabinet rank.

Piñol defended his performance, saying that when he took over from the previous administration in 2016, the sector was on the decline.

He said the agriculture sector has since improved, claiming a 2.2 percent average growth since he took over in 2016.

“If agriculture is dying then people are starving now,” he said.

“Why did they not say that at the time agriculture was posting a negative performance? We failed last year because of the typhoons,” Piñol said.

“Why are they saying that? Simple. Because they want to discredit the President and the (agriculture) department,” he added, referring to Duterte’s critics. (Editor: Tony Bergonia)