Estrada aide blasts bishops

Estrada aide blasts bishops

MANILA (AFP): Philippine President Joseph Estrada's chief adviser, Ronaldo Zamora, berated Roman Catholic bishops on Thursday for allegedly stoking hostile actions among opponents of a defense pact with the United States.

Leaders of the country's dominant religion issued a pastoral statement this week urging the senate to reject the "Visiting Forces Agreement" for its alleged unfair provisions.

Press reports here quoted a ranking member of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines as saying many Filipinos opposed the pact and that ratification would "provoke violent street protests."

The agreement is set to be ratified by the senate next week.

Ratification would enable Washington to resume large-scale annual military exercises with Manila which were suspended in 1995 due to ambiguity in criminal jurisdiction for visiting foreign troops.