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.