The privilege speeches of Sen. Grace Poe: A critical stylistic analysis

Language has been used in nation-building, propagating political power and unveiling ideologies, which explains why politicians tend to heavily rely on their speeches to persuade the public. Although there have been analyses of political discourse, women's political discourse has not been given much attention, particularly in the Philippines. Hence, this paper examines the selected privilege speeches of a Filipino senator, Sen. Grace Poe, using Jeffries's (2010) critical stylistics and Halliday's (1985) transitivity framework as lens in determining how the textual language functions, along with the transitivity processes prevalent in the corpora, allow her to embody ideologies and depict reality. The study found that the critical stylistic tool of naming and describing is dominant in the speeches as Sen. Poe focuses on proposing solutions based on her own perceptions and opinions. In terms of transitivity processes, the most prevalent is the material process in which Sen. Poe proposes concrete solutions to pressing issues such as oppression and economic recession. The findings of the study may be used to better understand the intents and purposes of privilege speeches delivered by Sen. Poe as a case study of Filipino women legislators.