Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos on Friday said constitutional reform, not impeachment or a Truth Commission, is the key to solving the political impasse between president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her oppositions.

Ramos said that if constitutional reforms go through a systematic and systemic time frame, the country's political problems will be settled.

"Constitutional reforms can solve the country's problems, not impeachment, not resignation and not Truth Commission," Ramos said during a press conference at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati Friday morning.

He said amending the constitution is in fact based on the Charter itself. "The 1987 Constitution provides that it can be amended after a five-year period," Ramos said.

Ramos said he campaigned for constitutional reform when he ran for president in 1992.

The former president on July 8 proposed a shift to federal- parliamentary system for the Philippines. His statement came amid criticisms that he is making his way back into the political arena.

Ramos is now chairman emeritus of LAKAS-CMD, president Arroyo's political party.

Source: Xinhua