Political Fanaticism through the Lens of the Local Community: A Case in Tagbilaran City, Bohol

An albatross that keeps weighing down Philippine politics is the overabundance of fanaticism and idolatry among Filipino citizens. As during every election, it has been part of the tradition to support and rally one's chosen candidate. This qualitative study seeks to investigate political fanaticism among voters in the local community of Tagbilaran City, Bohol using phenomenological design. The data were gathered in the three barangays in Tagbilaran City using a self-made interview guide to the thirty informants composed of fifteen males and fifteen females with age range based on Erik Erikson's Psychosocial stage of development. The data were analyzed and interpreted using the Six-Phase Approach to the Thematic Analysis of Braun & Clarke (2006). The results reveal that political fanaticism exists among voters because most of them relate their experiences with their involvement in campaign rallies and express their support through social media. It was also observed that the number of supporters, social media popularity, and good performance of the politicians are the basis of popularity among voters which affect their vote choice. Polls or surveys make voters aware of the rating of their supported candidate, whether he/she is leading the race or not, affecting the voters emotionally. Furthermore, most of the respondents agreed that polls or surveys helped them in their decision-making process on whom to vote for. Lastly, voters' knowledge of a candidate's character and work performance leads to political fanaticism creating loyalty among voters. With this political knowledge, voters can choose competent leaders to benefit the community.