January 16, 2025

Emmanuel "Manny" F. Piñol

Official Website

Salam Brotherhood Farming! Outstanding Luzon Rice Farmers Conduct Lectures in Taraka, LdS

Outstanding rice farmers from Nueva Ecija will travel to Taraka, Lanao del Sur next week to share their technology and knowledge with Maranao rice farmers.
The Nueva Ecija team will be led by Danilo Arcales Bolos, a former OFW who holds a record of 16-metric tons harvest per hectare produced in his farm in Sta. Rosa.
Bolos will be joined by three other farmer leaders who were requested by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to share their technology with the Maranao farmers of Taraka under a program called “Salam Brotherhood Farming.”
The “Salam Brotherhood Farming” which I designed when I was Governor of North Cotabato creates an engagement between Christian and Muslim rice farmers through cross-visits and sharing of knowledge.
Other outstanding rice farmers from Mindanao, including technicians of PhilRice and Seedworks Philippines, will join the half-day field demonstration and lecture on August 9, a day before the inauguration of the first units of the Solar-Powered Irrigation System funded by the local government.
Taraka is constructing six units of SPIS funded by the Development Bank of the Philippines to irrigate at least 700 hectares.
It is the first LGU in Mindanao, and perhaps the whole country, to build its own Solar-Powered Irrigation System using its own funds and recovering the cost through an Economic Enterprise System where farmers will pay for the water services.
On Aug. 10, Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim, DBP President Emmanuel G. Herbosa, BARMM Agriculture Minister Mohammad Yacob, Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. and officials of MinDA will officially inaugurate the SPIS facilities.
Taraka Mayor Nashiba Sumagayan and her husband, Vice Mayor Odin Sumagayan, will lead the farmers and residents of Taraka in the inauguration of the SPIS units.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
(Photos show technicians teaching Maranao rice farmers modern methods of rice seed germination using seed trays. They will be using mechanical rice planters for the first time. Photos submitted by MinDA Northern Mindanao Area Management Office.)

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21-Year-Old Cotabato Airport: Sad Story Of Childish Politics Twenty-one years after work on the Cotabato Rural Airport was started and 15 years after the Runway and Terminal Building construction were completed, it remains unused, a sad testament to the evils of petty and childish politics which had prevailed in North Cotabato. For people to truly understand this tragic narrative of a project which could have brought progress to the province, here is the historical account of the Mlang Airport Project: 1. I was a young Mayor of Mlang (1995-1998) when I envisioned the growth of my town into an agro-industrlialized city and thought an Airport would be critical in realizing that vision; 2. With the help of the Vice Mayor then, Luigi Buenaflor Cuerpo, whose family owned most of the areas in the former Hacienda de Tomas Buenaflor, I presented the idea to the elders of the clan and they loved the idea but since there were no funds available for the project, it remained just a dream; 3. In 1998, after one term as Mayor of Mlang, I was elected Governor of North Cotabato and I pursued the vision of building an airport in my hometown; 4. In 2003, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan authorized the purchase of 62 hectares of land in the former Hacienda Buenaflor for the purpose of building the airport; 5. With an initial P30-M Grant Fund which was provided by then Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sourced from the Department of Energy (which at the time, operated the Mt. Apo Geothermal Project), the project was started in 2004; 6. By 2007, my term as Governor ended and I was succeeded by Governor Jesus N. Sacdalan. I served as his Vice Governor. Gov. Sacdalan continued the project; 7. In 2009, the Runway and Terminal Building of the Mlang Airport were completed and Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo arrived for the blessing and inauguration; 8. In the 2010 elections, Gov. Sacdalan ran for Congress in the 1st District of the Province while I attempted to regain the Governorship but I lost to then Congresswoman Emmylou Taliño-Santos (now Mendoza); That was when work at the Airport was stopped and to justify the suspension of the Airport Development, the new administration claimed that the documents covering the purchase of the land were not perfect. I was accused of owning the land which was, of course, ridiculous and false. It was also claimed that the project was started without a Feasibility Study which again is a big lie, for how would it be given a budget if there was no study conducted. In fact, I made a public declaration that I was willing to help perfect the documents if they needed my signature on the alleged incomplete documents but my offer was ignored. In 2019, when former Congresswoman Nancy Catamco won as Governor, the alleged missing documents were recovered or reconstructed and perfected. That was when work was started again in the airport. Unfortunately, in 2022, Gov. Catamco lost in a tightly contested election to then Vice Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza before she could turn over the Airport Land Property which is owned by the Provincial Government to the Dept. of Transportation and the Civil Aeronautics Authority of the Philippines for it to be operational. The incumbent Governor is the Chairman of the Regional Development Council and she could have given utmost priority to the completion of Airport. Access to funds for the completion of the project would not be difficult because Speaker Martin Romualdez is the nephew-in-law of her husband, TUCP Partylist Congressman Raymond Mendoza. The real reason why the Mlang Airport Development has dragged for 21 years is because it is identified as the Brainchild and Pet Project of former Governor Manny Piñol and the current leadership dread the thought of seeing planes loaded with passengers and fruits from Cotabato to the big cities and the people giving credit to Piñol for initiating the project. The airport is for the people of North Cotabato now and the next generation and I would not care if she names it after her grandfather or whoever. This narrative is my account of the real story behind the delay in the completion of the Central Mindanao Airport which I know will be refuted by the other party. So, here is my challenge: Let’s hold a Public Debate/Forum on the real and true reasons behind the delay in the completion of the Central Mindanao Airport. I am willing to face anybody from their side in that debate, anytime and anywhere. The People of North Cotabato deserve to know the truth. #WeDontOwnGovernment! #TheTruthWillSetUsFree!