By Eliza Gonzales-Manglicmot
EBC Washington DC Bureau
WASHINGTON D.C., USA (Eagle News Service) – Vice Consul and Third Secretary Darell Artates of the Philippine Embassy’s Public Diplomacy section and representatives of Eagle Broadcasting Corporation’s bureau here in Washington D.C. met on Friday (February 17) to discuss how they can work hand-in-hand to better inform the Filipino communities abroad about services and outreach missions available to them.
Operating in the heart of America’s capital, the Philippine Embassy is central to services for Filipinos in the United States.
One of these is overseas absentee voting assistance. In May 2016, the Eagle News team in Washington D.C. helped cover the Philippine presidential election. The coverage gave relevant and helpful information to the viewers worldwide — from absentee voting guidelines, to Fil-Ams’ opinions on the candidates, to broadcasting live the actual batch feeding of ballots at the embassy’s voting center.
“Our interview with you helped inform Filipino voters abroad about overseas absentee voting procedures,” Artates said.
“(For example) that being a Filipino per se is not enough to vote– you need to register,” she added.
The Embassy, in cooperation with several Filipino-American groups will sponsor a series of consular outreach missions in the states of Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and the Carolinas from April to October 2017.
The Embassy’s consular jurisdiction in the U.S. covers Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Outside the U.S., it also administers to Filipinos in Anguilla, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Caribbean Islands (Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos), Commonwealth of Jamaica, Country of Curacao, Grenada, Guadalupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Republic of Haiti, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Martin, The Territorial Collectivity of St. Barthelemy, Trinidad and Tobago, and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Recently registered media outfit Eagle Broadcasting Corporation U.S.A., began broadcasts from its Washington D.C. studio in November 2016. Airing daily, Eagle News Washington D.C. delivers news on U.S. current events and those affecting Filipino communities across the nation.
