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Ambassador Kenney, DCM Jones Host Simultaneous Election Watch 2008 in Manila and Cebu

Ambassador Kristie Kenney and USAID-Philippines Mission Deputy Director Elzadia Washington join in the festivities at SM Mall of Asia in Manila during the U.S. Embassy’s Election Watch event that featured continuous updates of election results from live cable TV feeds. The Ambassador hosted U.S. Election Watch 2008 at the SM Mall of Asia in Manila on November 5, while the Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission, Paul Jones, hosted a similar event simultaneously at the SM Mall in Cebu City. The activities were part of the Embassy’s effort to involve Filipinos in the U.S. election process. Invited guests from the government and private sectors, as well as mall goers, were welcome to the event and participated in mock elections that featured voting machines used in actual U.S. elections.
Ambassador Kenney greets industrialist Augusto Zobel de Ayala and his wife Bea to the U.S. Election Watch 2008 at the SM Mall of Asia in Manila on November 5. Not counting the walk-in guests from among the mall goers and media, some 800 invited guests from the government and private sectors attended the event in Manila, while around 400 invited guests attended a similar event that Deputy Chief of Mission Paul Jones hosted at SM Mall Cebu.
U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Paul Jones (center) and his wife Catherine (left) greet guests at the U.S. Election Watch 2008 in SM Mall of Cebu on November 5. Behind them is one of the two giant screens that featured live CNN broadcast of the November 4 U.S. presidential elections.
U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Paul Jones (second, left) explains a sample voting ballot to guests prior to their participation in the mock U.S. presidential elections at the SM Mall in Cebu on November 5. The U.S. Election Watch 2008, which the Embassy held simultaneously in leading malls in Manila and Cebu, featured live television broadcasts of the November 4 U.S. presidential polls, mock elections, and U.S. Embassy officials to answer questions on the U.S. election process.
A guest at the SM Mall in Manila feeds her mock election ballot into one of the voting machines used in the mock elections at the U.S. Election Watch 2008 on November 5. The mock election was open to guests invited to the event as well as to interested mall goers in both Manila and Cebu. The Embassy conducted similar mock elections among senior high school students in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. A count of the votes cast in the Embassy-sponsored mock elections nationwide showed that Barak Obama garnered 3,134 votes while John McCain received 911 votes.
A life-size cut-out photo of Democratic presidential candidate Barak Obama greets guests and mall goers at the Election Watch at the SM Mall in Cebu. The simultaneous Election Watch events that the Embassy conducted in Manila and Cebu featured the life-size photos of the leading U.S. presidential and vice presidential candidates so that guests could pose with the figures during the event.
A huge crowd at the main atrium of SM Mall in Cebu attentively watches a giant screen showing a live CNN broadcast of the crucial electoral votes coming in. The U.S. Embassy hosted U.S. Election Watch 2008 simultaneously in Cebu and Manila to help Filipinos better understand and appreciate the U.S. election process as well as participate in the process through the mock elections.
Ambassador Kenney answers questions from the media during the Election Watch at the SM Mall of Asia in Manila after a live CNN broadcast Senator John McCain’s concession speech and it was announced that Senator Barack Obama had won the election. Responding to questions on the implications of Mr. Obama’s victory, Ambassador Kenney assured Filipinos that U.S.-Philippines relations will continue to grow and will remain strong.

Last Update :: 11/08/2008

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