FORMER President Fidel Ramos on Tuesday denied accusations that he received campaign contributions from the Libyan strongman when he ran in 1992.

In a faxed statement to the BusinessMirror, Ramos said: “I totally deny Sen. Miriam Santiago’s accusation carried in three newspapers on Monday based on a recently released WikiLeaks cable to the effect that I received P5 million from Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi as campaign contribution just before the May 1992 Presidential elections.

“Senator Santiago’s wanting to put me behind bars is not new. Some years ago, she publicly accused me of trying to assassinate her by bumping a military jeep into her vehicle, which is the reason—according to her—of her various chronic ailments.

“The WikiLeaks report on which Senator Santiago’s latest attempt to have me incarcerated is hearsay by itself [WikiLeaks], and is further based on a string of successive hearsay conversations.

“As a former President I welcome a Senate blue-ribbon committee investigation on this matter, as I did welcome, attend and participate in [since 1999] two previous Senate blue-ribbon investigations [‘in aid of legislation’] and one Joint Congressional Commission on Energy investigation [also in aid of legislation].”

Ramos also suggested that the Senate invite Qaddafi as a resource person if it calls for an investigation on Santiago’s allegation.

“Per his own statement on worldwide media the other day. Qaddafi is still very much alive [not hearsay], and may be available to shed light on this matter.”