Fidel Ramos vows peaceful transfer of power
Fidel Ramos vows peaceful transfer of power
GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines (Reuter): Philippine President
Fidel Ramos said yesterday he would not stand for reelection and
pledged a peaceful transfer of power to his successor when his
term ends next year.
"I will not run for reelection, period, period, period," Ramos
said in this southern Philippine city upon his return from a 10-
day foreign trip.
"There shall be an orderly transition of power to whoever he
or she may be," Ramos told 5,000 people at the General Santos
City airport.
It was Ramos' first categorical statement that he would step
down since the Roman Catholic church launched a major offensive
against him for attempts by his aides to change the constitution
so he could stand for a second term.
Ramos's statement was apparently intended to soften the impact
of today's planned mass rally in Manila organized by the church
which had accused him of tinkering with the constitution and
aspiring to be a dictator.
The Philippine constitution limits a president to a single
six-year term and the church said changing it could open the
doors to a dictatorship of the kind that Ferdinand Marcos imposed
on the country in 1972.
Marcos was ousted from power in a 1986 popular revolt.
The term limits were imposed when the constitution was
rewritten 10 years ago after the fall of Marcos, who had kept a
grip on power for 20 years.
Ramos repeated his earlier pledge not to impose martial law to
keep himself in power beyond June 1998 when his term ends.
"I will not proclaim martial law. I will not order the
military and the PNP (Philippine National Police) to undertake
military action which will be misconstrued to be a declaration of
martial law," he said.
"Let's elect the best official in 1998," Ramos said.
Ramos, who was hailed as a hero for having turned the economy
around after he took over in 1992, fell foul of the influential
church two weeks ago when he said he was keeping his options open
on reelection.
This was an about turn from Ramos' earlier pledges that he
would step down next year.
In the past two weeks, the church and former president Corazon
Aquino had whipped up such a frenzy over the issue that many
feared prolonged political instability.
Yesterday, two bombs were found in Manila churches but police
defused both. It was not known who planted them.
Last month the bombings of a bus and bus terminal killed five
people and wounded 60.
The government has blamed leftist rebels for the attacks but
opposition politicians charged they were carried out by the
military as part of an alleged plot to justify a declaration of
martial law by Ramos.