Are Filipino voters smart? Or do they ask, ‘What is in there for us?’

In the alternate universe of Mr. Aquino’s political mandarins, voters are truly smart that they will reject the crooks and the corrupt in the 2016 elections. In that universe, the assumption is the voters will settle for men of competence and integrity in 2016 like what they did, they believe, in 2010. That unshakable narrative keeps them dreaming of what they call “continuity” after 2016. Even if that dream runs counter to three things: history, polling results, popular belief.

The operative phrase that underpins their confidence is this: Voters are smart. Are they?