Ramos asked to be watched

Ramos asked to be watched

MABALACAT, Philippines (AFP): Philippine President Fidel Ramos invited his opponents yesterday to place him under surveillance to end speculation he would declare martial law to keep himself in power.

Ramos' remarks came after rumors that he had ordered 24-hour surveillance of key players in a huge antidictatorship rally scheduled for Sept. 21.

"I deny that completely and as strongly as I possibly can. If they want, I'd like to invite them to put me under surveillance," Ramos said after following a ground-breaking ceremony for a bridge in this town north of Manila.

Ramos also denied reports that the Sept. 21 rallyists, to be led by his predecessor Corazon Aquino and Manila's archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin, were denied use of a large outdoor stadium here.