We are in agreement here, that is what he seems to be doing however he also voiced his opposition to icopress becoming merit source and that is where the two do not equate. No doubt he has been very generous with his merits to icopress but icopress did not ask for them.
The question if asked in a general sense, would any merit source applicant be happy to receive merits from those opposing his application because they like work or would they prefer to read a post to indicate they are (or are not) supporting his application?
Yeah, he opposed the application but his stance was "Conflict of Interest," which's not true as we all know, and in his previous posts he mentioned that he had background knowledge in accounting and IRS training and that made him to bring the "Conflict of interest," topic to the application.
Icopress, never asked for any merits but I believe he won't mind having those merits as he's a deserving member of the forum and if someone sends him merits, no matter if the merits come from an opposing member, then there's nothing wrong with it. I know it could be somehow hurtful to hear opposing words from reputed members but I'm quite sure that Icopress understands that in merit source application, both support and opposition could be present.
You're right that no body becomes happy when they get merits from someone who opposed their application, but still if someone is sending merits as a way to show his generosity then one should accept it as a sign of good will. I highly agree with all your words, however, I believe that philipma1957 could rethink about his opposition and might take it words back because if we analyze it deeply then we can understand that there won't be any conflict of interest or whatsoever even if a manager becomes a merit source.