[3] Pineda Ponce had one older sister, Consuelo, and two younger brothers, Rafael and Carlos (called Carlitos).

Carlitos was murdered as a child between San Miguelito and El Liber while returning home after selling dulce de rapadura.

Afterwards he went with his sister Consuelo to live with their uncle, Filadelfo López Morales, in the village of Villa de Cofradía, in the department of Cortes.

As well as encouraging many people to run for office after the return to democracy in 1980, he participated in many legislative initiatives, including the following:[12] On November 30, 1997, after the general elections in Honduras, in which Carlos Roberto Flores won the presidential election, Pineda Ponce was named president of the National Congress of Honduras for the period 1998-2002.

[14][15] During his tenure as minister of education, he oversaw reactivation of the normal school system to train teachers that had been discontinued by the previous administration.

[16] After more than a year, Pineda Ponce realized that he was no longer able to work effectively in the Zelaya government, and after 17 months[17] he resigned from his ministry post.

[18][19][20] In a 2008 interview, he observed that the government of Mel Zelaya "had no direction, compass, or goals" and that "improvisation, appearances and theatricality prevailed rather than the serene, judicious and accurate analysis of national problems.

[26][27] After an illness that caused Pineda Ponce to depart from public life, the Congress met in a plenary session and voted on a decree to extend financial help to its former head and presidential candidate.