Hope we don't find ourselves defenseless and alone

It is good that the government is set to review the controversial Visiting Forces Agreement the Philippines has with the United States. Like other agreements, this one has been stacked heavily in the latter's favor.

It remains doubtful, however, if any renegotiation will result in any significant gains in favor of the Philippines. We may get a few more crumbs here and there, but we shudder to think at what price America is willing to concede anything.

Remember that in any deal we hope to strike with the United States, it is always they who get to negotiate from a position of strength. We simply do not have the clout to demand, and get, what the Americans are not willing to give in the first place.

The advice of the Senate for the government to abrogate the agreement if the Americans refuse to renegotiate is therefore just pure and simple bluster, perhaps to help along the political interests of some, as in reelection.

It pains me very much to say this, but beggars just cannot be choosers. With a military that is a very poor excuse for national defense, we simply cannot afford to let national pride get in the way of obtaining what military assistance we can get from America.

It is very easy to beat our breasts in righteous indignation. But what national pride are we talking about? We cannot invoke national pride only in our dealings with the Americans and other foreigners. We must invoke it also in every aspect of our daily lives.

And yet look at the way we have been conducting ourselves internally. Look at the depths of shame and ignominy to which we have allowed the same "prideful" Senate to plummet. Look at the kind of government we have willingly foisted upon ourselves by means of apathy.

National pride cannot be compartmentalized to suit the argument of the moment. We cannot swallow our national pride in the way we do things internally and then regurgitate it suddenly in our dealings with other countries. It is either we have it or we dont.

The closest thing we can get toward regaining some semblance of national pride is to be practical in our such dealings. And by practical we mean the ability to negotiate with maturity and open-mindedness.

To do that we have to admit the fact that, other than their names, our Navy and Air Force are almost non-existent, leaving only the poorly-trained, ill-equipped and largely undisciplined Army to take care of national defense.

And that is not a very reliable pole from which to fly our national pride. And so we have to swallow hard and get help from where we can. And that is the Americans, exploitative of our weak position though they may be.

We must bear in mind that the world has changed dramatically over the past several years and that conflicts no longer involve traditional interests and conventional means. The world is not longer condemned to fight from purely geopolitical and economic sparks.

The next wars will be fought over religion, drugs and the environment. The platforms for such conflicts are already in place, and some of the players are starting to emerge on the stage and making their presence felt.

Ideally, now would not have been the time for weak countries like the Philippines to prefer bluster over reality, false pride over practicality. But since that is who we are, and there is no stopping politicians from taking over everything, let us just cross our fingers.

Let us hope Americans need us more than we need them in these parts because if it is the other way around and we force their hand, then heaven help us if we ever find ourselves isolated and defenseless in a sea of emerging hostility.