Minutes General Membership Meeting

Democrats Abroad -

Philippines
- PH 11 October 2020, Sunday, 2:30 pm
Via Zoom
Attendance
1. Lisa Pagkalinawan 8. John Boyd
2. Kathleen Guido 9. Corey Augenstein
3. Bill Gelman 10. David Kuchenbecker
4. Gayle Zialcita 11. Bing Ganchero
5. Carmen Bonoan 12. Bob Mangan
6. Rachel Ebora 13. Wilma Huang
7. Nena Hernandez

Agenda of the Meeting

1. Quorum
2. Introductions
3. Minutes from the last meeting
4. Updates
5. Plan election day events
6. Volunteer opportunities to get out the vote

Call for Quorum and Approval of Minutes

The meeting started at 2:45 in the afternoon with 13 members present on Zoom.
Bill Gelman motioned to approve the minutes of the previous meeting and Dave Kuchenbecker
seconded. The motion passed.

Introduction
The
meeting started at 2:45 in the afternoon with 13 members present on Zoom.
Bill
Gelman motioned to approve the minutes of the previous meeting and Dave Kuchenbecker.

Updates
1. The October 6 joint Manila House/The Asia Society
webinar Lisa participated in can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ6QnigA0ng

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2. A second batch of post cards were sent to 41 people. DA-PH also published ads in the
Philippine Daily Inquirer and Philippine Star newspapers. These were paid for by Democrats
Abroad global.
3. The group had a short debrief after the Presidential debate
Lisawatch Sept. 30. showing
Pagkalinawan the ad
published in Philippine Daily Inquirer the
4. DA-PH received funding from global Democrats AbroadPhilippine
to publishStar
adsand
on postcards
Facebook. Lisa and
mailed to
a volunteer from DA worked hard to get an ad campaign up and running but it was online for
voters
only about 24 hours and was then shut down by Facebook. The reason was unclear. DA-PH
however received a lot of questions in response to the ads from citizens living in the
Philippines, which members of DA-PH’s volunteer team were able to address.
5. Lisa contacted the Washington Post with help from Gay, Rappler, Inquirer and the Embassy for
media outreach and is waiting for responses.
6. Specific updates on supporting voters to send ballots to the US:
The
DHL discount was disapproved.
It
will be cheaper to use myDHLPlus or create a corporate account with FedEx to avail of
a 40% discount. It seems that more members will have to use this option as the election
is getting closer.
The
embassy will continue to accept ballots but advises voters to drop their ballots by
October 15 to make sure that they get to their voting centers before the election.
Lis
a provided the following information related to the Embassy Voter’s Assistance Events:
F The U.S. Embassy in Manila will hold in-person overseas voter assistance events
on October 14, 16, 19, 23, 26 and 30, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. These events
are open only to U.S. citizens who need assistance to print the Federal Write-in
Absentee Ballot and/or a postage-paid envelope in which to mail a voted ballot to
the United States. To meet social distancing requirements designed to help
prevent the spread of COVID-19, attendance will be strictly limited at each event.
F You must register in advance for one of the events.  Registration will be confirmed
on a first-come, first-served basis.  Click here to register by October 13, 2020. An
email confirming the registration will be sent; you must present this confirmation
email (on your phone or printed copy) to be granted access to the Embassy. You
must wear a mask and face shield to enter the Embassy; hand sanitizer will be
available for your use in the waiting room.
F Please come prepared with the following information to help complete your voting
materials: 1) voting residence address; and 2) Social Security number or your U.S.
state driver’s license or ID number.  
F Embassy staff will be available to help you print ballot return and FWAB postage-
paid return envelopes, and will accept your voted ballots – as long as they are
signed and in sealed envelopes – for mailing to the United States.
F For more information voting from overseas, please see our website and the
Federal Voting Assistance Program website.

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 Zoo
m help desk every Sunday is still ongoing. Lisa posted the link on DA-PH’s Facebook
page and requested Bing to remind Nancy Longatan to post the link early each Sunday
morning.

Volunteer opportunities to get out the vote

L i
watch and party. Wilma volunteered to get in
touch with her contacts and will get back to
Lisa.
L i
enable Democrats Abroad to pay for the calls.
This service cost money, for instance 5,400
calls per day cost $9,700 from October 1-7.
To donate, check out:
https://www.democratsabroad.org/donate.
Da
vid is one of the committed callers. He noted that Lisa helped him get started and found that it
was not that difficult. David encouraged members to try.
Me
mbers can also use the “I voted from the Philippines” Facebook frame.
Car
men reached out to the Doctors’ Association specifically those she knew will vote Democrat,
and they have all voted.

Upcoming events

1. Reminder: Embassy in-person voter help on October 14, 16, 19, 23, 26 and 30
2. On October 15, 9 am (ET) former Ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, will talk to
Democrats Abroad, send RSVP to this link.

Plan for Thanksgiving

Bill
Gelman asked if the group will hold the annual Thanksgiving event for the Americans at the
Bicutan Detention Center. He suggested that considering the Covid19 restrictions, he is willing
to donate food but perhaps, we can just drop off food instead of visiting in person. John Boyd,
Nena Hernandez, and Gayle Zialcita also volunteered to donate food. David volunteered to
inquire and coordinate with the authorities how to make the arrangements and ensure that the
food and other gifts will get to the intended recipients. Bill also suggested to explore having a
Zoom meeting with the detainees to make their Thanksgiving more meaningful.

What do on election day (Nov. 4)

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 Lis
a suggested to get together on Zoom starting around 9:00 in the morning until about 11:00
o'clock on November 4th. The group can decide around 11am if there is a need to continue.
Aro
und 5 pm those who live nearby can get together at Ayala Triangle or Blackbird. Wilma
volunteered to check with Manila Club as a possible venue.
Oth
er suggestions can be discussed further in the next meeting on 25 October. Hopefully, the
media will be interested to cover DA-PH if Biden and Harris will win. Bill suggested that
perhaps, we should prepare small and bigger posters. Wilma asked Lisa to send design (PDF)
that can be printed in a tarp.
Lis
a announced that campaign/election paraphernalia such as bumper stickers and buttons are
available on Lazada. Bing requested for 2 buttons and Carmen requested as well.
De
mocrats Abroad Asia Pacific recommended media sources that would have the best
information on election day such as Associated Press since CNN and Fox News will get data
from exit polls and unofficial reports and will not cover results from mail in ballots.

Next Meeting
The next meeting was set on 25 October via Zoom at 2:30pm.
Join Zoom Meeting Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85695639508?pwd=UzJBYlIrNnJzbEdKQjJmMnUyVFpGUT09

Meeting ID: 856 9563 9508

Passcode: Vote4Biden

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Annex A
Zoom Chat Room Messages

14:43:27 From Bing Ganchero-Gelman to John Boyd (Privately) : Hey John Boyd, Good to see
your face!!!! Love the articles.

14:58:01 From Bing Ganchero-Gelman : Please unmute yourself if you want to talk

14:58:50 From Lisa Pagkalinawan : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ6QnigA0ng

14:58:54 From Bing Ganchero-Gelman to Lisa Pagkalinawan (Privately) : Kindly set to play

15:22:22 From Lisa Pagkalinawan to Bing Ganchero-Gelman (Privately) :

https://www.democratsabroad.org/caroline_kennedy_speaks_to_democrats_abroad

15:25:08 From Bing Ganchero-Gelman : Here is the link to Amb Kennedy’s chat with Democrats

15:26:09 From Bing Ganchero-Gelman :

https://www.democratsabroad.org/caroline_kennedy_speaks_to_democrats_abroad

15:29:24 From Bing Ganchero-Gelman : There is a podcast that you can check :
https://cafe.com/stay-tuned/can-trump-steal-the-election-with-marc-elias/

15:34:45 From Lisa Pagkalinawan :

https://www.voxmedia.com/2020/9/28/21459800/vox-media-studios-partner-with-netflix-
leonardo-dicaprio-on-new-series-whose-vote-counts-explained

15:42:33 From geyzialcita : For the Prison Project, I would not want to go there in person but if
someone would pick up a pumpkin pie or two, do let me know if you push through with
this project.

15:52:29 From Rachel Ebora : I don't use Facebook but there are different options for a watch
party - youtube has YouTube party which is a chrome extension and allows for
simultaneous watching and communication among people watching from different
locations.

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