  We estimate the potential size of the weak annihilation amplitudes in QCD
factorization as allowed by experimental data. To achieve this goal, we
establish a connection between the amplitudes in the QCD factorization and the
so-called topological and $SU(3)$-invariant descriptions. Our approach is based
purely on the analysis of the tensor structure of the decay amplitudes. By
focusing on the processes $B\rightarrow P P$ and considering data from CP
asymmetries and branching fractions, we perform a global fit to the
$SU(3)$-irreducible quantities assuming minimal theoretical bias. Subsequently
we translate the outcome to the QCD factorization decomposition, and find that
the most constrained weak annihilation amplitudes are below $4\%$. However, in
view of the large uncertainties in several of the experimental input
parameters, values up to $30\%$ are allowed in certain cases.
