A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY ON THE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF STUDENT-LEADERS IN RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY: BASIS FOR A SCHOOL TOUR EXTENSION SERVICE ON CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AWARENESS

In a democratic country just like the Philippines, youth have a role in nation-building and must participate in any political activities under the constitution, which may influence government decision-making in policymaking. Youth participation was seen and evident in the past May 2022 national election and the political issues emerging in the Philippine context. Besides, the country is facing the COVID-19 pandemic that may affect youth's political participation, which led the researchers to determine the lived experiences and contributing factors that influence them to engage in political matters. The participants were ten selected student-leaders from various clubs at Rizal Technological University who serve as President and Vice President. To gather data, Semi-structured interviews were used and analyzed through the use of transcendental phenomenology by Edmund Husserl. The findings revealed that the participants conceptualize political participation as freedom of speech, possessing a political stand or opinion, and activism. Freedom of expression and political activism are the activities that they consider a sign of political engagement. Furthermore, social media, education, emerging trends, peers, family, and their interests are the factors that contribute to and influence participants’ political participation. In accordance with the study’s conclusion, a campus political awareness action plan was proposed, which is composed of three sets of webinar-training programs to strengthen the political awareness of the selected participants, which would be the basis for the school tour extension program. Also, this study was subjected to further studies regarding students' conceptualization of political participation in the Philippine context to fulfill the research gap.