NAMFREL

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April 5, 2011
from NAMFREL Election Monitor Vol.2, No.6

President Aquino has appointed Atty. Christian Robert Lim as new Comelec commissioner, taking the post left by Gregorio Larrazabal who retired from the election commission in February. This leaves one more position vacant in the Comelec en banc, the one left by Nicodemus Ferrer when he retired also in February.

According to reports, Atty. Lim was part of the campaign team of President Aquino and former Senator Manuel Roxas III during the May 2010 elections. In the same election, he was also said to be part of the legal team of Quezon City congressional candidate Vivienne Tan, eldest daughter of business tycoon Lucio Tan. Atty. Lim also served as private prosecutor in the plunder trial of former President Estrada, and a deposition officer during impeachment proceedings against him. He is also a private prosecutor in the murder case “People of the
Philippines versus Panfilo M. Lacson et al” the Kuratong Baleleng case from January 2004 to present.

At 37 years old, Lim is among the youngest commissioners ever appointed to the Comelec, and has said that he was surprised to be chosen for the position. "I didn't even know that was the position they were looking at for me. It just happened that I had some election experience during the 2010 election so I guess they looked at my qualifications based on that," he said. Lim obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from the Ateneo in 1994. He went to the Sacred Heart School for Boys in Cebu for high school and grade school. Lim obtained his law degree from Ateneo de Manila University, then worked as an Associate of the Carpio Villaraza & Cruz Law Offices upon graduation. He is currently managing partner of Lim & Leynes Law Offices.

Lim told the media that he wants to focus on making election automation even more transparent. "That is how I would like to focus my work on," Lim told ABSCBN News Channel (ANC). (Various news sources)

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