Philippines declares ‘state of lawlessness’ after deadly blast

President Duterte also commanded the military last week to use their full force to stop the Abu Sayyaf after the rebel group rejected his call to stop their terror attacks.

The UN Security Council and UN Secretary-Generl Ban Ki-moon on Sunday condemned a deadly terrorist attack on a Philippine night market that killed at least 14 people, stressing the need to bring perpetrators to justice. The local government of Davao is collecting witness accounts at the hospitals where victims are being treated with medication as well as assisting families of those who died and were injured.

Speaking early Saturday morning, President Rodrigo Duterte, former mayor of Davao city, said that fighting terrorism and the drug trade would require “a state of lawless violence”.

For his part, President Duterte said that “these are extraordinary times”.

“We are not new to this kind”.

Davao is the biggest city in the southern Philippines, with a population of about two million people.

Abu Rami, a spokesperson for the extremist group warned of more attacks in retaliation against the military, after it launched an offensive against the group, following its killing of 15 soldiers.

“We have always been ready for this”.

“While no one has yet claimed responsibility it is best that the populace refrain from reckless speculation and avoid crowded places”, he said.

The statesman will remain in the country to monitor the government’s response to manage the impact of the bombing, he added.

The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, with a large Muslim population in the south.

On Saturday, Duterte declared a national “state of lawlessness”, which his security adviser said gave the military extra powers to conduct law enforcement operations normally done only by the police.

Duterte placed the nation under a “state of lawlessness”, and said “he has not declared martial law and has not suspended the writ of habeas corpus”.

Police said they could not yet determine if the latest blast was caused by a bomb and that an investigation was now underway. “We have raised our alert status as a proactive measure to ensure safety and security of airport users”, he said. “At least we know who made the threats”. I can not control the movement of the citizens of the city and every Filipino has the right to enter and leave Davao. “It is unfortunate we can not stop and frisk anybody for just any reason”, he said.

Duterte was in Davao on Friday but was not near the market when the explosion occurred, according to his aides.

Mr Duterte was elected President in June, launching a campaign he claimed would kill so many drug users and dealers that “fish will grow fat” from bodies dumped in Manila bay.

She said she initially thought something had fallen on the roof of a neighboring building. Islamic extremists were blamed for the blast then. Duterte’s office has said that his proclamation was based on an article in the country’s Constitution that puts its leader in charge of armed forces.

She continued: “We’re very terrified because Davao City was known to be the safest city in the Philippines and a situation like this is very rare”.