US Ambassador Thomas Hubbard made a curious claim when he said that the Visiting Forces Agreement has the support of the silent majority of the Filipinos (PDI, 7/25/98). I do not know where and how he got the data to support his statement. But certainly, the well-fed denizens of the cocktail circuit that he mingles with in Metro Manila are not good barometers of the popular sentiment. After all, many of our people nowadays care more about their empty stomachs than the abstract concept of Asian regional security.

It is the Church officials, the cause-oriented groups and the few progressive politicians who have a better grasp of the sentiments and welfare of the majority of the population. And it is for this that they oppose the VFA and the inherent evils that it brings and stands for.

So far, the means used to impose the VFA on our people cannot even justify its end. The VFA was signed last Feb. 10, while the Filipinos were watching something else -- the circus of politicians filing their certificates of candidacy for national elective positions. As if this distraction was not enough, the Department of Foreign Affairs leaked word about a possible legislative approval for the return of the Bells of Balangiga from Wyoming, USA, in time for the June 12 Philippine Centennial commemoration.

We were duped about the return of the Balangiga bells as a possible exchange for the signing of the VFA. And for pushing his luck too far during his last US visit, former President Ramos not only failed in his effort to have the relics returned to the country. He was also subjected to the insults of Republican politicians in the US Congress. These are found in the transcript of the sponsorship speech of Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas for The Veterans Memorial Physical Integrity Act of 1998. The bill was specifically filed to spite any move for an immediate return of the Balangiga bells to the Philippines. Read it and fume in disgust. You can access the text through the Balangiga website [now out of circulation].

I agree with Rep. Wigberto Tañada's perception that President Estrada might have been misled into supporting the VFA, possibly by the foreign secretary. Practice makes perfect. After exposing the previous president to American ridicule, the same official appeared to have pulled a similar trick on the present president.

Let us oppose the Senate ratification of the VFA. And let us look forward to yet another centennial -- the outbreak of the Philippine-American War on Feb. 4, 1999.