Court junks bid to nullify SOCOTECO II rejection of Meralco joint venture proposal

A South Cotabato regional trial court has rejected an appeal to invalidate the South Cotabato Electric Cooperative (SOCOTECO II) board of directors’ decision rejecting Manila Electric Company (Meralco)’s joint venture proposal with the local cooperative.

In a six-page decision dated on June 5, 2026, RTC Branch 62 Assisting Judge Vicente Andiano ruled that plaintiff Rogelio Garcia, of Bantay Kuryente, failed to establish a sufficient case against the SOCOTECO II board and “miserably failed” to prove it has exhausted all legal remedies against it before it sought the court’s intervention.

“It is elementary that disputes involving intracorporate affairs between the board of directors the members of a private electric cooperative (are) within the primary and exclusive jurisdiction of the National Electrification Administration (NEA),” the court said, citing Presidential Decree No. 269.

The court decision came as Razon-led Primelectric, through Ignite Power, and Meralco have competing proposals to partner with SOCOTECO II for a possible joint venture to serves customers in General Santos City, Polomolok, parts of South Cotabato and Sarangani province.

The court said, it would be “premature for the plaintiff to seek redress from this Court without first raising such issues with the administrative agency, which has primary and exclusive jurisdiction over such disputes.”

Garcia asked the court to bar the SOCOTECO II board from implementing, and declaring as null and void, Resolutions Nos. 19, 20, and 28.

In the said resolutions, the SOCOTECO II board rejected Meralco’s unsolicited joint venture proposal which includes a corporatization model seen as incompatible with SOCOTECO II’s member-owned structure.

Moreover, SOCOTECO II’s resolutions also granted conditional acceptance to Ignite Power’s proposal.

Meanwhile, Ignite Power's legal officer Allana Mae Babayen-on clarified that no final negotiations have occurred yet and upheld that any partnership with SOCOTECO II would still require the approval of member-consumer-owners through a democratic vote.

Ignite Power, a partnership of Razon-led Primelectric Holdings Inc. and Manny Pacquiao's MP Holdings, earlier said that there are no formal negotiations ongoing for its proposed joint venture with SOCOTECO II. — BM, GMA News