VOTER’S PREFERENCE ON THE QUALITIES OF AN IDEAL CANDIDATE

IN BARANGAY SAN MIGUEL, LUNA, ISABELA

A Thesis
Presented to
The faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences
ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY
Cauayan City, Isabela

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Science in Legal Management

by:
HAZEL N. SURBIDA
 Chapter 1

The Problem and Its Background

Introduction

Barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines- a term originated

from balangay, a boat used by a group of Austronesian people when they migrated to the

Philippines. Municipalities and cities are composed of barangay, and they may be further

subdivided into smaller areas called Purok and Sitios. A barangay is headed by Punong Barangay

(addressed as Kapitan; also known as the Barangay Captain) with members called Barangay

Kagawad. The barangay is often governed from its seat of local government, the Barangay Hall.

Theses barangay officials serve their community having been elected in a barangay election.

Election is the process through which voters select the representatives who will draft,

decide, and implement the government’s policies. One of the most sacred actions the state

conducts is election. This action, in which every citizen of the state exercises democracy or their

right to select their own leader, is already tainted. Elections have a significant impact on people’s

lives, and every vote represents the democratic voice of Filipino citizens. In addition, citizens of

eighteen (18) years of age and over exercise their rights to vote in this election as they elect

leaders and make choices. Each citizen can also enjoy the privilege to be educated on the

candidate’s issues and plans in the coming elections. While voting is the most important

responsibility undertaken by a citizen in a democratic society, each vote affects lives of millions

of people.

Elections in the Philippines were never safe from any issue or problem. Some of these

problems include vote buying, violence, influence of political dynasties, inefficiency of PCOS
machines and black propaganda. (Oliveros, 2013). There exists an alarming situation of the

electoral situation at the micro-level, voters choose candidates on very different reasons,

including campaign methods and characteristics of candidates. There exists a high level of

uneducated voters whom basis for voting are highly different from those who are educated

(Santiago, 2012).Moreover, there is an increased concern on looking at the basis of how voters

exercise their suffrage, the basis on how they vote, and especially on the reasons on the voting

choices. Facing growing political distrust, many constitution makers throughout the world have

thus decided to reform electoral systems to introduce preference voting, or to increase the

influence of preference-voting results on who is elected (Bedock 2017; Dalton 2004; Renwick

and Pilet 2016). A reason is probably that preference-voting results are quite influential, even

beyond the election of parliamentary representatives. (André et al. 2017; Bol et al. 2018; Folke,

Persson, and Rickne 2016; Meriläinen and Tukiainen 2018)

Voting preference is choosing for whom to vote (Bratton, 2013). Therefore, social and

attitude factors are related to voting behavior. Attitude factors including, assessment of the

personal characters of the candidate, evaluations of government performance, orientations on

specific political issues, party identification and ideology. And for social factors, race, religion

and social class (Insitute of Social Research, University of Michigan). In a context of limited

partisanship, voters tend to rely on the personal characteristics of candidates to make up their

mind (McDermott 1997). These include their gender (Golder et al. 2017; McElroy and Marsh

2010), physical appearance (Berggren, Jordahl, and Poutvaara 2017; Rosar, Klein, and Beckers

2008), or geographical roots (Bol et al. 2016; Jankowski 2016). Evidence suggests the existence

of a phenomenon called ‘affinity voting’, in which voters favor candidates with whom they share

personal characteristics, supposing that these candidates would best serve their interests. These
characteristics include gender (Dolan 2008; Sanbonmatsu 2002), ethnic background (McDermott

1998), socio-demographics at large (Cutler 2002), and pure facial resemblance (Bailenson et al.

2008). In turn, these shortcuts may or may not serve as effective heuristics in the perspective of

choosing the candidates that is best for them (Lupia 1994; Popkin 1991).

Other researches have also touched the analysis of the behavior and preference of the

voter especially in the country. According to the Institute of for Political and Electoral Reform of

the Philippines or IPER, the Filipino voters’ behavior and preference is highly different basing

on their 1995 and 2003 studies. In their 1995 study, the main determinants of the Filipino vote, in

respective ranks are; popularity, endorsement, benefit to voters, and party program or platform.

On their 2003 study, the IPER presented a significantly different determining factors of the

Filipino vote, these are now; the benefit factor, party program or platform, popularity and

endorsement, respectively (IPER, 2004). This would present that there is a significant shift of the

frame of the Filipino voter on the basis of voting choices.

Statement of the Problem

The study aims to determine the Voters Preference on the qualities of an ideal candidate
in Barangay San Miguel, Luna, Isabela
Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the voter-respondent in terms of:

a) Gender

b) Age

c) Educational attainment

d) Occupation
 2. What are the preferred qualities of the voter respondent in choosing the candidate they

will be voting in the 2023 election in terms of:

A) Physical Qualities

a.a) Personal Attributes

a.b) Character Traits

B) Strategic Qualities

Significance of the Study

The researcher fully believes that, the result of this study will be useful to the voters

which may serve as a guide in looking for the voter’s preference. The researcher conceived this

study with the hope that the results would be of benefit to the following:

Elected officials. They have their own campaign strategies in order to attract voters and look for

their accomplishments and not their own promises

To the Youth. As a new generation who are new to the world of politics, may give a higher

degree of knowledge in choosing suitable leaders

To the politicians. It helps them possess the good character and qualities of good leaders

whatever aspects of life.

Researcher. The result of this study will be useful to the voters which may serve as a guide for

the voting preference on the qualities of an ideal candidate.

Future Researchers. This would serve guide and basis on how to do their research parallel to

our study.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

The study aims to determine the ideal qualities of a candidate in the voter’s preference by

the voters of San Miguel, Luna, Isabela. This study is limited only to the registered voters of San,

Miguel, Luna, Isabela in the year 2023.

Definition of terms