GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Vice Mayor Jose Edmar "Ed" Yumang on Tuesday vowed to file criminal and administrative complaints before the Ombudsman against the SOCOTECO II board and the National Electrification Administration, alleging a "deliberate concealment" of the power cooperative's financial and governance status.
During a privilege speech at the 34th Regular Session of the 21st Sangguniang Panlungsod, Yumang accused the board of directors (BOD) and NEA representatives of failing to disclose the cooperative's true condition to its member-consumer-owners (MCOs).
“They deliberately did not disclose the predicament SOCOTECO II is facing,” Yumang said. “They did not call for a general assembly to present financial statements [or] to present why we are facing this problem.”
The speech, titled “Liwanag sa Dilim: A Walk Towards Transparency and Accountability,” followed months of council inquiries involving the SOCOTECO II management, NEA, and private power firms including Meralco and Ignite Power.
Yumang questioned the necessity of a NEA-appointed project supervisor, noting that the agency has not officially declared the cooperative "ailing."
He further challenged the board’s approval of a roadmap for a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) while an official audit remains inconclusive and public consultations have not been held.
“As vice mayor of this city, I formally demand an end to this darkness,” Yumang said. “We have to invoke in chorus that MCOs have the right to information.”
Yumang proposed a mandatory third-party external audit and an intensive information drive before the Annual General Membership Assembly on June 27.
The vice mayor emphasized that the council’s actions were a matter of public protection rather than curiosity.
“The cooperative does not belong to the BODs but to the MCOs,” Yumang said.
“Hindi po bobo ang konsehong ito. Hindi po bobo ang taong bayan. Hindi po bobo ang MCOs. Mananagot kayo sa batas,” Yumang said.
(This council is not foolish. The people are not foolish. The MCOs are not foolish. You will be held accountable under the law.)
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