With election season fast approaching, some people are once again pointing fingers at “bobotantes” or the so-called “uneducated” and “irrational” voters for supporting incompetent candidates.

While it is easy to claim that “bobotantes” simply need to be educated on how to “vote wisely,” many scholars offer various analyses that emphasize understanding the larger context and background of Filipino voters and the Philippine elections in general.

UP Socius, a student organization of the University of the Philippines- Los Baños, has organized a symposium entitled “Dispelling the Myth of the Bobotante: A sociopolitical analysis of the voting behavior of the Filipino masses,” to shed light on the issue.

Speaking during the webinar is Jayeel Cornelio, director and associate professor of the Development Studies Program in Ateneo de Manila University. He was a co-investigator in the “Vote of the Poor 2016: Bottom-up Perception of Electoral and Political Strategies” study published by the Institute of Philippine Culture.

Renee Karunungan, doctoral researcher at Loughborough University, will present a paper on Filipino voters’ love for celebrity politicians.

The symposium will be on Friday, September 24 at 2 pm. You can register through this link. – Rappler.com