Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared a “state of lawlessness” on Saturday after suspected Abu Sayyaf extremists detonated a bomb that killed 14 people and wounded about 70 in his southern hometown of Davao while he was on a regular weekend visit there.
Rodrigo Duterte said that his declaration that covers the southern Mindanao region did not amount to an imposition of martial law, but it would allow troops to be deployed in urban centres to back up the police in setting up checkpoints and increasing patrols. President Duterte Announced this after he inspected the scene of last night’s attack at a night market in downtown Davao city.
An Abu Sayyaf spokesman, Abu Rami, claimed responsibility for the blast near the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao University and a five-star hotel, but Duterte said investigators were looking at other possible suspects, including drug syndicates, which he has targeted in a bloody crackdown.
Rumours have swirled in recent days of a plot to assassinate Duterte, 71, which he has shrugged off as part of his job. The talk has been intensified by a crackdown on drugs that has killed more than 2,000 people since his June 30 inauguration.
However, the world leaders condemned this attack in Philippines including US President Barack Obama.
