GenSan court junks TRO bid vs SOCOTECO II-Ignite Power talks

A General Santos City regional court has junked a petition to halt South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative’s (SOCOTECO II) possible partnership with Razon-led Ignite Power.

In its ruling, General Santos Regional Trial Court Branch 35 Judge Roel John Ladeza of Regional Trial Court Branch 35 denied the plaintiffs’ plea for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and writ of preliminary injunction.

The ruling, dated July 6, stemmed from Special Civil Case No. 26-916.

Six petitioners, all SOCOTECO II member-consumer-owners, asked the court to stop the cooperative’s board and Ignite Power from further negotiations.

They cited Board Resolution No. 28, which conditionally accepted Ignite’s modernization proposal.

The petitioners argued that the board should instead pursue conversion into a stock cooperative under the Cooperative Development Authority, a path they claim is their right under Presidential Decree No. 269, as amended by Republic Act No. 10531.

The court, however, disagreed.

In particular, Ladeza found no “clear and unmistakable right” to protect as the law gives cooperatives, not individual members, the choice to convert, noting that SOCOTECO II’s own bylaws say nothing about members initiating conversion.

The GenSan court also found the alleged injury “too speculative” as SOCOTECO II’s Resolution No. 28 only authorized talks with Ignite and did not block a future conversion bid.

“The extraordinary remedies sought cannot issue on the basis of rights that remain subject to judicial determination or injuries that are merely anticipated or contingent,” the order read.

Ignite Power's legal officer Allana Mae Babayen-on earlier 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. —VAL, GMA News