A business group is calling for the immediate resumption of a plebiscite for the proposed joint venture between South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative (Socoteco II) and Ignite Power amid concerns about a worsening power crunch, especially with the looming strong El Niño.
The General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GSCCCI) said it was ‘extremely important to have a ‘white knight” to help the power cooperative address the threat of tight electricity supply.
The state weather bureau earlier said a very strong El Niño could emerge between September and December of this year and persist until the first half of 2027.
Even without El Niño, the Visayas and Mindanao have been under numerous yellow and red alerts due to power supply woes.
‘The most expensive electricity is having no electricity at all. Last week, we sent a letter stating the Chamber’s official stance. We called for the plebiscite to proceed first and foremost,’ GSCCCI president Miguel Rene Dominguez said.
‘We know that things would be very difficult if it reached a point where service was no longer good, because the jobs themselves in Gensan and Sarangani-the factories, manufacturing, and so on-could be put into a major crisis,’ he said.
Dominguez reiterated the need for safeguards to protect Socoteco’s ownership.
In response, Primelectric president and CEO Roel Castro said the firm ‘has heard and is open to the calls of the Gensan Chamber calling for the inclusion of an anti-dilution provision in the corporate structure of the proposed joint venture.’
Ignite Power is a joint venture between MP Holdings Inc., owned by boxing legend and former Senator Manny Pacquiao, and Razon-led Prime Electric Holdings Inc.