ALAM hails Comelec's Lim and Yusoph for voting vs Brillantes, Sarmiento & Co.

ALAM hails Comelec's Lim and Yusoph

for voting vs Brillantes, Sarmiento & Co.

Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) hails Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioners Christian Robert S. Lim and Elias R. Yusoph for voting for the approval of the group's accreditation for the 2013 partylist elections, manifesting their sense of independence.

Three other commissioners, Lucenito N. Tagle, Rene V. Sarmiento and Armando C. Velasco, voted for the disapproval of ALAM's application.

Comelec Chairman Sixto S. Brillantes Jr. voted also for the disapproval.

The newest member of the Comelec, Commissioner Ma. Grace Cielo M. Padaca, did not take part in the voting.

ALAM chairman Jerry S. Yap and president Berteni C. Causing praised Commissioners Lim and Yusoph for the courage of standing up against Brillantes, Sarmiento and the rest of the majority votes.

"These acts of Commissioners Lim and Yusoph manifested that they are independent minded and brave in expressing their dissent against the Brillantes majority," Yap expressed.

Yap and Causing gave their more profound gratitude to Commissioner Yusoph.

Despite the fact that Yusoph's name was mentioned by Comelec employee JR Raneses as one of the two beneficiaries of the P3 million that the latter was asking from ALAM in exchange for accreditation, Yusoph rose above the challenge and personal bias that should be generated by the mentioning of his name in that corruption deal.

"For us, the act of Yusoph in voting in favor of ALAM is a proof that he was not in any way connected to the P3-million bribe deal by JR Raneses," Causing expressed.

Nevertheless, Yap said that the score of 4-2 in the voting is more than sufficient to inspire ALAM to go for the accreditation before the Supreme Court without any hint of surrender.

"It's a do-or-die for ALAM with the High Court," the chairman of the partylist aspirant stressed.  "God be with us. God bless the Philippines."