Governance safeguards and the integrity of a planned consumer plebiscite are at the center of two Catholic bishops’ request for preventive suspension of SOCOTECO II directors implicated in pending complaints over a proposed joint venture.
Marbel Bishop Cerilo Casicas and San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, who also heads Caritas Philippines, wrote Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla on September 1 concerning the proposed agreement with Ignite Power and Energy Holdings.
Ignite Power is backed by Enrique Razon and Manny Pacquiao.
The bishops alleged procedural irregularities and warned that the implicated directors’ continued presence could affect the handling of cooperative assets and institutional records, as well as the conduct of the plebiscite.
“Allowing them to remain in office while investigations proceed poses a continuous threat to cooperative assets, institutional records, and the free expression of consumer will in the presently ongoing illegitimate plebiscite,” they said in the letter.
The bishops also requested a dialogue with the Ombudsman to discuss concerns about the proposal’s potential consequences for communities relying on the cooperative’s electricity service.
Their intervention followed opposition from the Diocese of Marbel, including a peaceful protest in late August challenging the plebiscite’s conduct and scheduling.
The proposed partnership has drawn scrutiny over its implications for cooperative governance, operations and consumers.
The Ombudsman received the letter on September 8. No action on the suspension request had been reported as of the supplied report’s publication. The bishops’ allegations and requests remain subject to determination by the relevant authorities.|- BNN Integrated News
