New Comelec commissioner joins 1st en banc meeting

MANILA, Philippines—Newly minted Commissioner Christian Robert Lim attended his first en banc meeting at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Tuesday.

“I hope [to offer] a certain exuberance and maybe [keep the Comelec] up to date to current times,” the 38-year-old Lim told reporters in a press conference after the meeting.

Lim replaced the retired Gregorio Larrazabal, one of the few poll officials regarded as “tech savvy.” Lim said that like Larrazabal, he was into electronic programs and devices.

He said he was “really surprised” and “a bit overwhelmed” by his appointment.

“I don’t really know who pushed for my papers but I’m grateful to those who helped me,” he said.

Lim was part of the legal team, the antifraud group and the “quick reaction team” of President Benigno Aquino III and former Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II during the May 2010 election campaign.

He heads the Lim and Leynes law office. He graduated from Ateneo de Manila University in 1994 with an interdisciplinary studies degree, after which he took up law. He placed 16th in the 1998 bar exams.

Lim noted that he was not on the short list of nominees for commissioner.

He said he had submitted his resumé to Malacanang, “in case they called on me to serve the government.”