Authors: Albert D. Bongco1, Queenie S. Santiago1, Ivy F. Amante1
1Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences, Mindanao State University-Buug, Philippines
Email: 1albertbongco07@gmail.com,1kweenisantiago@gmail.com, 1ivy.amante@msubuug.edu.ph
ABSTRACT
This qualitative study focuses on the language used in the Provincial Executive Orders (PEOs) issued by the government of Zamboanga
Sibugay, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to March 2021. An executive order is a directive issued by a government
executive, such as a mayor, governor, or president, that has the force of law and directs government operations without requiring legislative
approval (Jilani, 2020). During the pandemic, provincial governments worldwide issued executive orders to implement measures like
quarantine mandates and capacity restrictions. The data was gathered from the official Facebook page "Sibugay TV," which serves as the
primary platform for disseminating information from the local government. The researchers used the online software tool WordCounter.net to
analyze these executive orders, counting words, characters, percentages, sentences, paragraphs, and pages. The study aimed to identify the top
20 commonly used words and their communicative purposes within the seventeen (17) selected executive orders. The researchers categorized
the excerpts according to Macken’s (1990) framework, which includes ten (10) communicative purposes: Poetic, Dramatic, Narrative,
Response, Discussion, Explanation, Exposition, Information Report, Procedure, and Recount. The findings revealed that the dominant
communicative purposes among the top 20 keywords in the 17 executive orders were explanation, information report, and procedure,
consistently used throughout the corpus. This study enhances the understanding and interpretation of executive orders during the pandemic
through the application of corpus linguistics. It highlights the crucial role of clear and effective language in PEOs to ensure public compliance
and provide guidance during emergencies. Further research is recommended to explore the comprehensibility and public perception of these
executive orders to improve future communication strategies during health crises. By encouraging students, teachers, and language researchers
to engage with executive orders and explore new analytical tools and frameworks, the study paves the way for a deeper understanding of the
role of language in effective communication during emergencies.
Keywords: corpus analysis, executive orders, communicative purposes, information report, procedures