Cotabato Light Celebrates Decades of Powering Communities in Cotabato City DOS, and SK
- Cotabato Light
- Jul 11
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 26
Cotabato City — As Cotabato Light and Power Company (Cotabato Light) celebrates its 86th anniversary, we proudly honor our legacy of delivering reliable and quality power to Cotabato City, portions of Datu Odin Sinsuat (DOS), and Sultan Kudarat (SK) Municipalities. With each passing year, our commitment to enhancing customer satisfaction and enabling community growth grows even stronger.
Powering homes, businesses, and dreams for generations, Cotabato Light's story is deeply rooted in the vision of pioneers who saw potential in the unlit frontiers of Mindanao. Though the country’s first taste of electricity came in 1895 in Manila,16 years after Thomas Edison unveiled the first incandescent bulb—electricity was still rare across the rest of the archipelago by the 1930s.
One visionary, Don Ramon Aboitiz, took a bold leap into the unknown. In 1930, driven by courage, capital, and the counsel of his close friend, Spanish ship engineer Francisco “Paco” Such, Don Ramon ventured into the energy industry. Together, they acquired the Jolo Power Company and later, the Cotabato Light and Power Company from the Wong family.
By 1935, these pioneering efforts set the stage for a brighter Cotabato. It was during this era of nation-building that Paco Such helped shape Cotabato’s energy landscape, supported by infrastructure developments like the Cotabato-Davao National Highway initiated under President Manuel L. Quezon.
A historic milestone came on June 18, 1939, when the National Assembly granted Cotabato Light a 25-year franchise to operate in the Municipality of Cotabato through Commonwealth Act No. 487. That same year, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate arrived, heralding a period of both spiritual and infrastructural growth in the region.
Today, Cotabato Light continues to be a steadfast partner in progress. Beyond electricity, we bring innovation, resilience, and a genuine commitment to serve—anchored in a legacy that began over eight decades ago. Cotabato Light constantly looks for ways in order to provide safe, sufficient and reliable power to keep the lights on for our customers and to the communities we serve as we empower the evolution of our cities.As we celebrate our anniversary, we thank our customers, partners, and communities for their trust. Together, we look forward to lighting up more lives and powering a brighter future.
