Abstract
The paper tackled politics in the Philippines by scrutinizing the statement POLITICS IS DIRTY using both semantic and conceptual metaphor analyses in the context of the 2022 national elections in the Philippines. Fifty participants from different backgrounds were randomly selected for the study. The qualitative phenomenological approach was employed to explain the lived experiences of the participants about election in the country. The Political Discourse Analysis and Cognitive Analysis theories were the references used to be able to analyze the semantic and conceptual metaphor of the study. Results showed that the Political Discourse Analysis of POLITICS IS DIRTY generated five different negative phrases to describe the words politics and dirty. The Semantic Analysis of these two words also revealed their negative natural (physical) and moral connotations. Then, the conceptual metaphor analysis produced the source domain of dirty: taboo, impure, disagreeable, untouchable, needs washing, mess, and stinky. The target domain of politics was interpreted as corruption, buying votes, dishonesty, betraying public trust; propaganda, dirty tactics; politicians surrounded by guns, goons, golds; dirty world, dirty word; scandal, loss of integrity; and pork barrel. It is concluded that the word politics does not have any positive connotation but has varied negative interpretations.
