We don't talk enough about how Filipinos are petty by nature.

I'll admit I say this after watching way too many Charlotte Dobre videos, but still, we really are a petty bunch, aren't we?

I mean, how we make a big deal out of the smallest things. Are we bored? Are we incapable of grasping the bigger picture? Are we raised to not care about those things? Are we selfish? I don't really know.

Maybe "petty" isn't the right word for this situation. Maybe I have watched way too many Charlotte Dobre videos. But I'm pretty sure us being petty is the only explanation for what we're poised to do in five days.

Considering the case for not voting for Bongbong Marcos is strong and clear, why is the majority of Filipinos going to vote for him on Monday? And nope, I won't have any of your "the survey firms are sketchy" bullshit. I'm sure the enthusiasm you see is real, but, one, more Filipinos fall under the lower classes so it's natural that more of them are sampled (at random, but that's another discussion), and two, I'm pretty sure there's a sizable chunk of people who are embarrassed to say they're for Bongbong because they genuinely think Leni Robredo will be a step back, considering the progress (I would put air quotes, but of course the truth is far more complex than that) made under the current president. Surveys can get it wrong, but a trend is a trend, and denying this reality won't make your preferred one real.

Anyway, despite all that, the case for not voting for Bongbong Marcos is strong and clear. His background, how he benefited from that background, his lack of a platform, his unwillingness to be subject to any form of questioning, how he has seemingly brought together an embarrassment of stolen riches to his coalition. The case is clear. But why is more than half of Filipinos - perhaps the first time a president will genuinely have the support of the majority of voters - going to vote for someone like him?

One answer: because we're petty.

Specifically, it's because we - they, but then if it's the majority, we have no choice but to say "we" - don't really like Noynoy Aquino.

When he died eleven months ago I said that his legacy will loom large over this election, whether anyone acknowledges it or not. True enough, people could not avoid it. Leni's campaign took pains to distance themselves from his symbolism, to the extent that she is, technically, running as an independent. Bongbong's supporters retaliated by throwing terms like "pinklawan" at her and her supporters, saying that no matter how much they rebrand, the stench will never go away.

So, this vote for Bongbong is, I think, not really a vote for him, but rather a vote against Noynoy - a vote against a petulant hypocrite who always saw himself as the hero when he really wasn't. We don't want that, don't we? And yes, by all means, Leni isn't that person, but she's pretty much the same thing, they say, thanks to her being married to a man who served in Noynoy's cabinet. Yeah, Jesse Robredo is widely respected for how he served the people - the reverence to him is arguably similar to the one afforded to Ramon Magsaysay; oh, if only he lived long enough - but, still, you're with Noynoy, therefore you're bad. Right? Her being female probably doesn't help in a still very patriarchal society.

So, despite being confronted with the, again, strong and clear case against voting for Bongbong Marcos, well, screw the yellows, they say. Despite possibly having lived through the Martial Law years themselves - hello to my uncles, aunts and most definitely my parents - screw the yellows, they say. The last president was a whiny asshole, so let's go for the dictator's son instead. At least his parents got stuff built. I'm sure we'll be better off with more highways. Have you noticed there's less traffic during Martial Law?

Well, surely there are many other reasons, more valid reasons, which compelled them to decide that Bongbong is a better choice than Leni, or indeed, anyone else. (Remember, there are ten presidential candidates.) Maybe they're really buying the whole "unity" thing. Maybe they're tired of what they think is the hypocrisy of the second Aquino era, of promising the moon and getting burned by the sun instead. There's a lot to be said about how this really boils down to the Filipino's misunderstanding of what government is supposed to do, which is not to build stuff, but rather to establish and maintain the systems that allow us to, well, build stuff. But then, in the heat of the campaign, we'd rather call people stupid and misguided, and we dig our heels deeper, and we stay stuck where we are. So, yes, Filipinos are petty by nature. Very petty.