Pa ge 1 Pa ge 25 American Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Innovation (AJMRI) Pragmatic Analysis on Political Text in Posters, Slogans and Jingles in Davao Del Norte, Philippines Armand James A. Vallejo1* Volume 1 Issue 3, Year 2022 ISSN: 2158-8155 (Online), 2832-4854 (Print) DOI: https://doi.org/10.54536/ajmri.v1i3.354 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Article Information ABSTRACT Received: June 26, 2022 Accepted: June 30, 2022 Published: July 1, 2022 Elections in the Philippines covered with a lot of controversies. Among those recognized political parties, two were most coveted for a position. These are the Hugpong ng Pagbaba- go (HNP) and Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP – Laban). Meanwhile, due to the same interest of both parties, they fought one another for a position using strik- ing, deceiving, and powerful words to convince the people. The purpose of this study is to identify the pragmatic acts on the political text in posters, slogans, and jingles. Employing a qualitative content analysis approach, the corpora were retrieved and purposively identified across Davao del Norte Philippines. Data were analyzed by identifying the pragmatic acts. Results revealed that the political paraphernalia used by the aspirant politicians that are based on the pragmeme consist of activity part or also known as interactants and textual part or context. In the context parts, it identified the pragmatic features such as Reference (REF), Inference (IR), Relevance (REL), Voice (VC), Shared Situation Knowledge (SSK), Metaphor (M), and Shared Cultural Knowledge (SCK). Also, the politician employed different contex- tual backgrounds to ‘pract’ declaring, comparing, emphasizing, offering, claiming, commit- ting, and predicting. Thus, it is recommended to explore the features in the linguistics aspects to deepen the understanding of the language used by the political candidates for a specific position. Also, widen the scope of the study to pragmatize the language. Keywords Politics, Mid-year election, Pragmatics, University of Mindanao, Philippines 1 University of Mindanao – Tagum College, Tgaum City Davao del Norte Philippines. * Corresponding author’s e-mail: armandjamesvallejo23@gmail.com INTRODUCTION The midterm election in the Philippines commenced last May 13, 2019. Among the strong political parties were the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) which spearheaded by the Mayor Inday Sara Duterte of Davao City and The PDP-Laban governed by president of the Philippines. It was an exciting election since most of the politicians are eyeing for a particular post in the government - back up with them is the well-known personality. Based on the election results, it was the PDP-Laban dominated the race in Davao del Norte, Philippines. As such, the effective utilization of different campaign materials helps the electorate in gaining the votes of the people. With the advent of technology, the electorate’s joy rides in it. Catchy songs and slogans are used to promote the political issue. A well-crafted jingle and slogan have the power to get stuck in the listener’s head and influence a voter’s thoughts long after they have forgotten the words of a long-winded stump speech. Voters have priors regarding the quality of the candidates’ policies in the different policy issues and about the issues’ relative importance (Denter, 2013). Basically, electorates spend time or money in an effort to influence voters’ decisions at the ballot. The influence has two effects on the people as it increases the quality of the policy in the issue as perceived by the voters through policy advertising, and it makes the issue more salient through issue priming, thereby increasing the issue’s perceived importance. Past studies on pragmatic acts on politics revealed that political aspirants look for validation. This is done by presenting their worth as a politician. The political aspirant showed their language through the presentation of their values, promise, self-progression, understanding the people, building trust with the people, presenting their accomplishment, looking for an interest and popularity (Steffan, 2020; Sandoval-Almazan, & Valle-Cruz, 2020; Ross, & Caldwell, 2020; Serrano, Papakyriakopoulos, & Hegelich, 2020; McGregor, 2020; Ansari, Aziz, Siddiqui, Mehra, & Singh, 2020). It has been noticed by some scholars that some political aspirants made use of political paraphernalia. It made them liberated in facing the public (Park, 2009). However, voters are knowledgeable enough as to whom they are voting in the coming elections (Philipp, 2013). The purpose of this qualitative content analysis study is to describe the pragmeme in the political language campaign used during the midterm election at the national level, particularly in Davao del Norte, Philippines. Thus, this pragmatic analysis will be useful as the source of information for the improvement of the different strategies during the political campaign. The actions are determined with the use of words and other paraphernalia in convincing and deceiving the community. METHOD This study employed a qualitative study content analysis approach because it seeks to explore the pragmatic acts in the political text in posters, slogans, and jingles. Content analysis is the best suited to this project since it deals with political language (Fairclough, 1992). Further, politics is not just conducted through language, but much of politics is language. It is partly consisting of the disputes which occur in language and over language. The corpora used in this study were texts from posters and https://doi.org/10.54536/ajmri.v1i3.354 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri mailto:armandjamesvallejo23%40gmail.com?subject= Pa ge 26 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 1(3) 25-28, 2022 lyrics of the jingle. In particular, these are owned by the electoral candidates under the Hugpong ng Pagbabago or HNP party and PDP-Laban party of Davao del Norte, Philippines. Steps were considered in collecting the data in this study. First, the researcher finds some available posters in the street and took photos of them. It was saved on the sd card. Second, the political jingle was collected from the available source through youtube, FaceBook, and Instagram. However, since not all political jingles were available on social media, the researcher personally ask permission from the candidate to retrieve files from them. This is made possible by sending a letter for permission. The data were analyzed by following the theoretical concept (Odebunmi, 2008). The analysis was done provided that, the text was analyzed by identifying the practs in the political text and jingle. It identified first the pragmeme which consist of the activity part or interactants like speech acts, indirect speech acts, conversational dialogue acts, psychological acts, prosody, physical acts, body moves, physiognomy, body expression, etc., and the textual parts or context such as INF, REF, REL, VCE, M, MPH, SSK, SCK, etc. This leads to the encoding and decoding process to identify the pragmatic acts. The results of the study were validated by an intercoder that support its reliability. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The pragmatic acts identified in this paper were generated through knowing the pragmeme which has two umbrellas such interactants or known as activity part and contexts or textual parts. Here, it seeks to identify the practs. There were a total of 66 utterances gathered in the political text. It identified the context usage and was analyzed. The contexts were Reference (REF), Inference (INF), Relevance (REV), Voice (VC), Shared Situational Knowledge (SSK), Metaphor (M), and Shared Cultural Knowledge (SCK). It has been examined from the text that each utterance in our purposively gathered data was employed in more the one contexts. Furthermore, the practs were identified upon an examination which includes declaring, describing, comparing, emphasizing, offering, claiming, committing, and predicting. As seen in table 1, Reference got the 26 variables equivalents to 40%. This is followed by Shared Situational Knowledge with 20 variables equivalents to 30.77%, Inference has 6 variables equivalents to 9.23%, both Relevance and Voice obtained 4 variables with 6.15%, Metaphor got 3 variables with 4.61%, and lastly, Shared Cultural Knowledge obtained 2 variable equivalents to 3.07%. Reference as Feature in Political Text in posters, slogan, and Jingle in Davao del Norte Philippines The reference is the backbone in every political text. It is the citation of the politician’s identity to be known in the community. Reference is most observed in every content analysis wherein, it is commonly observed in the introduction part of the context, identify the location Table 1: Context of use of Political Text in Posters, Slogan, and Jingle Contexts of use of Political Text in Posters, Slogan, and Jingle Variable Percentage Reference 26 40 Inference 6 9.23 Relevance 4 6.15 Voice 4 6.15 Shared Situational Knowledge 20 30.77 Metaphor 3 4.61 Shared Cultural Knowledge 2 3.07 TOTAL 66 100% and number of citations to determine the value (Steffan, 2020). The promise of predicting relatedness between citing and cited works. The context “Kuya Edwin Jubahib, Kuya ng masa” is a form of reference that shows declaring its identity as the positioned man in the community. Furthermore, “Ibasi Eva, Katawhanangbida” stressed outthe context to be compared to other politicians. The self- proclaim political candidate used adjectives to describe his political will. As the context “Yang-yang is the best, ayawkalimtisabalotaikanumero 3” presented, the word best implies that no other politician can beat his candidacy for he claims that he is no other than the rest. Lastly, emphasizing the self towards the community allows her to persuade the people to choose her candidacy. As the context states “Angoy ta mare, ayaw kalimte, usa ka inahanug us aka asawa, usakababae, e boto ta mare sakonseho”. As the context prevails, the strategy used is being womanhood and tagging these politicians as self-progression individuals (Sandoval-Almazan & Valle-Cruz, 2020). Inference as Feature in Political Text in posters, slogan, and Jingle in Davao del Norte Philippines The function of inference in the political text is important. This can be observed in daily life making things sensible of what people say and do. For politicians, it is a skill to persuade the people to get attention. Letting the people foresee the future through the underlying meanings from words, phrases, or sentences but concealed meanings enhances the overall quality of communication. The context “Usa ka inahan, abogada ug babaye, kalamboan inyong matagamtaman kung siva ang inyong kauban” emphasizing that politicians need to reveal their background in order to be known by the people. Sympathizing with the community is one way of decisiveness. Another way of expressing their political will is to describe their family background. “Tingog sa kabatan-onan, mopadayun sa nasugdan sa iyang amahan”. This is evident in the context where he describes explicitly the footstep of his father. Another way of looking forward to the future as a politician is to look into the situation where the politician wants to have food on their table to eat when they are elected in the office “Arunsamatagkan-anan nay pagkaonnamahukad.” Lastly, the politician develops their platform in a way that service is a need in the barangay once they were elected. https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 27 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 1(3) 25-28, 2022 This was expressed in the context “Ester Angoy ta mari. Dili ta niya pasagdan sa atong panginahanglan serbisyong nasugdan sa barangay moabot sa tanan”. Inference in the political arena constructs a deeper meaning and understanding from the people (Ross & Caldwell, 2020). Further, it is a way of reasoning based upon generalization, explanation or both to what is offered as a conclusion. People in the community may expand their way of thinking on the political platform of the politicians. It allows them to comprehend the meaning of the text in the political paraphernalia easily. Relevance as Feature in Political Text in posters, slogan, and Jingle in Davao del Norte Philippines. Relevance in this context is demonstrated through the trust of the people in the community. Politician uses and emphasizes relevance in communication through committing and describing. Trust has a fundamental feeling (Medina Serrano et al, 2020). It is seen as relevant since it has a powerful cause of dissatisfaction when politician failed to fulfill their promise. As context reveals, “Para sabayan, tuloy ang laban #changeiscoming” expresses strong commitment. This portrays that change is indeed inevitable and may not be put into a reality. This is also connected to the context that “Ang iyang katakos sa katawhan makatabang” prevails sincerity yet needs to be proven in the society. Voice as Feature in Political Text in posters, slogan, and Jingle in Davao del Norte Philippines This is to observe how politicians lay down their interest in the office. For instance, a political party may have a political system to realize. This is evident when text in the political paraphernalia implies that they need change for the new era of governance “Change is coming for a new era of unity and good governance”. This is how politician predicts themselves when they are elected. Furthermore, the contention of the politician is not just about presenting their selves in the community but also their career. “Programa sa panarbaho iyang idalit sa katawhan, klase-klaseng pangita ang ikaalagad” claimed that there is a political necessity in the arena (Warren, 2002). Shared Situational Knowledge as Feature in Political Text in posters, slogan, and Jingle in Davao del Norte Philippines The Shared Situational Knowledge is emphasized in this context. The idea here is that politicians allow themselves to show off their interest, platform, and intention by providing what they have accomplished a long time ago in their community. In this context “Lagom man ang inyong panan-aw apan hayag ang panglataw” emphasized that the society before is far different from now. Also, “Trusted and experiences, proven leadership and dedication, Serbisyong Tagumenyo, serbisyo para kaninyo” built its platform of what a politician should be. This is supported that a politician should do goodness in society by declaring himself as “The best’. The politician should value their position as elected officials in the community (McGregor, 2020). People rely upon them; their accomplishments and their new form of government. Metaphor as Feature in Political Text in posters, slogan, and Jingle in Davao del Norte Philippines In the context “Abogadangkonsehala, lahisiyangbayhana” describing her capability to govern the society. Stating that she is different from other politicians. “Kaabagsatanangpanahon” also stressed his contention emphasizing that at any moment, he can be there to help the community in any possible way. Lastly, a politician claimed that the city is far different before than now, that it is clean and organized compared to before. This is due to the accomplishment of the incumbent mayor “Allan sa Tagum hapsay ug , limpyo, lahi ra kaniadto ang Tagum. Dako nang asesnso tungod sa atong pinalanggang mayor”. In the political arena, metaphors exist as implicit or indirect comparisons of other politician interest (Ansari, 2020). Shared Cultural Knowledge as Feature in Political Text in posters, slogan, and Jingle in Davao del Norte Philippines The nature of politics is indispensable. Constituents are looking forward to having a better life. The culture of politics must be spread out since the politician has the power to use their words to culturally developed (Weidman. 2014). Strengthening its platform through showing the real contention makes a politician a winner. As such, a politician should be culturally oriented about their own society. As emphasized in the context “Angtinuodnganagpuyosa Carmen”, it must have cultural awareness. This is in order to be equipped and oriented on the situation that the community is facing right now. Pragmatic Acts in Political Text in posters, slogan, and Jingle in Davao del Norte Philippines Politics in the Philippines particularly in Davao del Norte is full of promises in general. Based on the context gathered, it becomes sensational. Through this, the politician becomes liberated (Park, 2009). The practice is observed mostly in the political paraphernalia such as political text in posters, slogans, and jingles. Evidently, it shows declaring, describing, comparing, emphasizing, offering, claiming, committing, and predicting. Using these practs in the political paraphernalia, politicians were able to be convinced, deceived, and elected to office. However, though these politicians were elected in office, some voters claim that they have knowledge of whom they will be voting for. Thus, it gives importance as a member of society (Denter, 2013). CONCLUSION Many of the aspiring politicians who coveted a particular position resulted in war using the language of politics. Some of them carry the banner of the administration and some of them anchored their banner to the administration. This strategy is to gain the trust of the people. Attaching themselves to a person who has political power and will. This is also to influence society about the contention. Upon gathering their personal attribute through their political paraphernalia, these politicians congruent their intention upon convincing the people. As such, the context observed after analyzing the data were REF, INF, https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 28 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 1(3) 25-28, 2022 REL, VC, SSK, M, and SCK. Furthermore, their way of letting people hook from their platforms are declaring, describing, comparing, emphasizing, offering, claiming, committing, and predicting. With these, politicians become effective deceivers and promulgate new ideas and interests. REFERENCES Ansari, M. Z., Aziz, M. B., Siddiqui, M. O., Mehra, H., & Singh, K. P. (2020). Analysis of political sentiment orientations on twitter. Procedia Computer Science, 167, 1821-1828. Denter, Philipp, 2013. A theory of communication in political campaigns, Economics Working Paper Series1302, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science. Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and text: Linguistic and intertextual analysis within discourse analysis. Discourse & society, 3(2), 193-217. Medina Serrano, J. C., Papakyriakopoulos, O., &Hegelich, S. (2020, July). Dancing to the partisan beat: a first analysis of political communication on TikTok. In 12th ACM Conference on web science (pp. 257-266). McGregor, S. C. (2020). Taking the temperature of the room how political campaigns use social media to understand and represent public opinion. Public Opinion Quarterly, 84(S1), 236-256. Odebunmi, A. (2008). Pragmatic functions of crisis- motivated proverbs in Ola Rotimi’sThe Gods Are Not to Blame. Linguistik online, 33(1). Park, H. M. (2009). Politic confrontation process analysis of the authorities since global banking crisis occurrence. Korean Business Review, 22(1), 103-123. Ross, A. S., & Caldwell, D. (2020). Going negative: An appraisal analysis of the rhetoric of Donald Trump on Twitter. Language & communication, 70, 13-27.. Steffan, D. (2020). Visual self-presentation strategies of political candidates on social media platforms: A comparative study. International Journal of Communication, 14, 3096-3118. Sandoval-Almazan, R., & Valle-Cruz, D. (2020). Sentiment analysis of facebook users reacting to political campaign posts. Digital Government: Research and Practice, 1(2), 1-13. Weidman, A (2014). Anthropology and voice. Annual Review of Anthropology 43, 37–51. Google Scholar |Crossref | ISI Warren, ME (2002). What can democratic participation mean today? Political Theory 30(5), 677–701.Google Scholar |SAGE Journals | ISI https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri