A PRAGMATIC STUDY OF RAPPLER'S HEADLINES COVERING DUTERTE'S WAY OF HANDLING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE PHILIPPINES

Headlines are top-level headers found above an article that summarize the substance or the content and it can express the writer's stand or opinion regarding a certain topic. The use of speech acts allows headlines to arouse reader's interest and even exert influence over the public through deliberate choice of language. The present research aimed to know what speech acts are employed in the headlines gathered and the most predominant type was used. It also sought to find out how the media, specifically Rappler, portrays Duterte's way of handling this COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing selected headlines from the official website of Rappler itself. A mixture of qualitative and quantitative method was adopted in this study, based on the Speech Act Theory, specifically Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts introduced by John Searle (1979). It is significant to note that all headlines gathered are from the official website of Rappler. Out of the 100 analyzed headlines, assertive speech acts had the highest percentage of the speech acts employed. Furthermore, the larger percentage of implicit speech acts used suggested that Rappler implicitly subjected Duterte to hot issues and criticism regarding his leadership during the pandemic.