Court denies plea to stop Socoteco II’s rejection of Meralco bid

MANILA, Philippines – A regional trial court in South Cotabato has denied a petition seeking to stop the implementation of the South Cotabato Electric Cooperative’s (Socoteco II) decision rejecting the joint venture proposal of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

In a six-page ruling, the court said plaintiff Rogelio Garcia failed to establish a sufficient case against the Socoteco II board of directors and “miserably failed” to prove he had exhausted all legal remedies before going to court.

READ: Meralco proposal for SOCOTECO II faces resistance

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“It is elementary that disputes involving intracorporate affairs between the board of directors and the members of a private electric cooperative (are) within the primary and exclusive jurisdiction of the National Electrification Administration (NEA),” the court said.

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“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,” it added.

The court also dismissed Garcia’s claims of connivance as “without basis in fact and in law,” adding that he “cannot be allowed to disregard the NEA’s primary and exclusive jurisdiction over disputes of this nature.”

Garcia filed the petition after the Socoteco II board passed resolutions rejecting the unsolicited bid from the country’s biggest power distributor, even calling it “not acceptable.”

Under the proposal, Socoteco II would convert from a cooperative into a stock corporation covering General Santos City and Sarangani Province.

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Earlier, Meralco said its partnerships with power cooperatives aim to address their long-standing electricity issues.

Meanwhile, the same resolutions conditionally accepted Primelectric’s Ignite Power modernization plan.

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READ: Bishop voices concern over South Cotabato power co-op joint venture

However, Ignite Power legal officer Allana Mae Babayen-on said there were “no final negotiations” yet, as any deal with Socoteco II would still require approval from member-consumer-owners through a democratic vote. /pai INQ

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