The European Union (EU) has extended sympathies to the relatives of those killed in the blast that hit a night market in Davao City Friday night.
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Before flying to Laos, President Duterte on Monday signed the proclamation of a state of national emergency on account of lawless violence, which calls on the military and the police to suppress and prevent lawless violence, according to Malacañang.
However the leader has been largely prized for having ended an armed conflict with communist guerrillas that lasted nearly five decades and killed at least 70,000 people.
Among those present during the emergency meeting were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Lt.
Arroyo said Duterte is in the best position to declare a state of lawlessness to crush any threat to the country’s peace and order.
It can be recalled that the terrorist group Al-Qaida staged bombing attacks in the United States on September 11, 2011 that left more than 3,000 civilians dead and scores of others injured.
Investigators are also reconstructing the improvised explosive used in the bombing incident, he said in a news conference.
“For the city government side, we are working on that it is an Abu Sayyaf retaliation”, Davao city mayor Sara Duterte, who is also the president’s daughter, told CNN Philippines.
Police are seeking two other “persons of interest”, both women.
Manila: The Philippines police chief warned on Monday that his officers were prepared to kill anyone, even rich and influential politicians, as they wage President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs.
Armando Morales, a 50-year-old masseur, said the explosion threw him off his chair, adding the blast had an upward force and emitted smoke but no fireball which could have killed more people.
Duterte has made eradicating illegal drugs the top priority of the beginning of his presidency. She went down to survey the scene of the blast, about 100 yards from her dorm.
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The bombing is the first violent challenge for President Duterte’s administration. His term in office was noted for his hardline stance on drug crime that he has now incorporated into his national policies.
