SOCOTECO II members to vote on Razon-Pacquiao joint venture plan in Sept. 2026

Members of the South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative (SOCOTECO II) are scheduled to vote on a proposed joint venture with Razon-Pacquiao-led firm Ignite Power in a month-long plebiscite to decide the future of the cooperative supplying power to General Santos, Sarangani, and parts of South Cotabato.

In a statement, SOCOTECO said around 200,000 member-consumer-owners (MCOs) are expected to vote in the upcoming plebiscite scheduled on four weekends —September 5 to 6, 12 to 13, 19 to 20, and 26 to 27, 2026.

Ignite Power is a partnership between Razon-led Primelectric Holdings Inc. and Manny Pacquiao's MP Holdings.

SOCOTECO II president Elenito Senit said the four-weekend plebiscite setup was to ensure the widest possible participation of qualified MCOs throughout the cooperative’s franchise area in line with directives from the National Electrification Administration (NEA).

“The Board deemed it necessary to hold the voting over several weekends to give all qualified member-consumers ample opportunity to participate in this historic decision,” said Senit.

The SOCOTECO II board also called on MCOs to cast their votes during the September plebiscite, which would determine whether the cooperative could proceed with its proposed partnership with Ignite Power as part of its long-term strategy to rehabilitate and modernize the electric distribution system.

Last July 25, some 32,000 MCOs endorsed the cooperative’s proposed Conditional Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with IGNITE Power.

For the partnership to be finalized, a majority (50% plus one) of all qualified MCOs must approve the partnership consistent with the requirements of Presidential Decree No. 269, as amended.

To recall, Ignite Power is proposing to infuse fresh capital into the electric cooperative to rehabilitate and modernize the distribution system.

The proposed rehabilitation program includes the upgrading and addition of substations, replacement of aging distribution lines and equipment, expansion of network capacity, deployment of modern distribution technologies, and improvement of customer service systems to meet the growing electricity demand in its franchise area.

The proposed joint venture with Ignite Power comes as SOCOTECO II continues to confront financial and operational challenges.

The electric cooperative said it has reported consecutive annual financial losses accumulated to P2.1 billion as of December 2025, increasing system losses to 14%, which causes P40 million monthly losses, aging distribution facilities, and the need for substantial capital investments to rehabilitate and expand its network.—AOL, GMA News