Light sticks pointing to the sky, Filipino K-pop fans with different idols cheered for one 56-year-old woman in pink, hoping she secures a come from behind victory in the presidential elections and lead them back to crowded stadiums to once again scream their hearts out.
It's a rare show of unity for fans whose defense of their idols against their rivals birthed the word bardahan. For Leni Robredo's campaign to upset Bongbong Marcos, they stan as one, amassing over 12,000 Facebook followers and over 9,500 on Twitter for "Leni Sunbaenim" as of Feb. 24.
"Fan communities have long been involved in displays of collective power like contributing to views, voting for awards, pushing songs to the top of the charts, and conducting socio-civic activities in lieu of birthday festivities," Majo, one of the group founders, told reportr.
Since coming together on Oct. 7, 2021, the day Vice President Leni Robredo announced her bid for the presidency, the group that calls itself "KPop Stans 4 Leni" or KS4L, is out to prove fans like them aren't the obsessive and shallow individuals many paint them to be.
They promise to deliver up to 30,000 votes for Robredo this May 9 through active campaigning, voter education forums, and even activites like “Mass Report Hour,” wherein members would report online disinformation.
"We’re not strangers to the idea of working together towards a common goal, we’re just turning what we already know and appropriating it for the Philippine elections," Majo added.
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From hallyu to halalan
In the earlier days of K-pop, stanning was typically regarded as escapist behavior. Fans would immerse themselves in Korean culture as a distraction from wordly responsibilities and realities. "K-pop is a break" for many, said Cha, also a member of KS4L.
"When fans find a safe sanctuary and happiness in the music and the content they consume in K-pop, these fans become readily guarded. They would want to protect the things that make them daydream, or make them not think of the problems or obligations they have to do," she said, explaining why some fans still insist on drawing a line between politics and K-pop.
But as idols and celebrities themselves speak up on political matters, it became evident how politics seeps through everyday life, one's fandom experience included.
"The K-Pop fandom experience is largely influenced by the actions of leaders we put in power. The price we pay for concerts, imported merchandise, and even the internet we use to stream our idols’ songs and music videos is directly impacted by the country’s economic situation, foreign trade policies, and industry regulations," Bella of KS4L said.
Fandoms are not passive consumers in the first place, University of the Philippines sociologist Samuel Cabbuag, whose research interests include fan studies culture, told reportr. "They have the capacity to resist and contest. At the same time, fans are not fans alone because they also have other identities at work here, and part of it is their identity as citizens who participate in civic duties, like the elections," he said.
"Within our volunteer group, we have a teacher standing against historical distortion, an artist standing against curtailment of freedom of expression, a daughter who was orphaned by the government’s butchered COVID-19 response," shared Majo.
A potent political force
In general, fandoms are founded within a strong emotional attachment both to the K-pop idol and fellow fans, said Tomas Baudinette, an Australian cultural antropologist who has studied K-pop fan cultures in Southeast Asia.
"For many who participate in transnational K-pop fandom, this sense of strong collective identity has transitioned into the creation of a space of mutual support. Simply put, K-pop fans come together through their fandom, particularly online, because they are united by a desire for a better world," Baudinette told reportr, noting how this isn’t exactly unique to K-pop fandoms per se.
But because of the large presence of K-pop fans online, this aspirational behavior has embedded itself in K-fandom culture. For one to be considered a "good fan"—"you need to visibly perform your commitment to the creation of a better world," he said, noting this is done best through engaging in political activism and yes, the electoral process.
"We joined fandoms that are already deep into these humanitarian efforts, often in the name of the idols we love", says Bella. "The positive effect the artist has on the lives of the fans is passed on and projected even if the issue it tackles doesn’t concern the fandom or the artist anymore," added Cha. This dynamic which he considers as unique to the idol-fan relationship in K-pop fandoms is what Baudinette calls as "good citizenship".
"For the idol, this means demonstrating good behavior and acting as role models to both fans and mainstream society. For the fan, this means engaging in good behavior to show the world that the idol’s fans are just as invested in modeling civic responsibility as an idol is," he said.
One example of this is when K-pop fans would hijack divisive Twitter hashtags by drowning them with video clips and memes of their favorite artists in support of movements like #BlackLivesMatter. The BTS Army, who took part in this back in 2020, were met with support from the septet, who subsequently aired their views against racial discrimination to their 26 million followers on Twitter.
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Can they deliver in 2022?
K-pop fans also made headlines after duping former U.S. president Donald Trump on his campaign rally that expected nearly a million people attendees. Turns out, hundreds of K-pop fans and Tiktok users had registered for tickets without actual plans of attending, leaving just 6,200 of his supporters showing up.
For Baudinette, it remains to be seen whether this "electioneering" strategies would actually translate to votes. In 2020, the Philippines ranked fifth worldwide among unique users discussing K-pop on Twitter.
But given efforts of organized groups like K-pop Stans 4 Leni, Cabbuag, the sociologist said, this speaks volumes about how capable K-pop fans are when it comes to political participation.
"In K-Pop, fans hold the power to their idols’ successes and doesn’t that ring true for democracy as well? As fans, we know the power we have and we want to channel that energy into putting the right leaders into power," said Micqua.
"We’ve endured six years of bad governance. We’re merely using the platforms accessible to us–our fandoms, communities, reach–to do our duty as citizens wanting a brighter future. If there should be a time to care about politics, that time is now," said Cha.