Several officials said the declaration meant troops would assist police in anti-crime and anti-terror operations.
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Duterte’s Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the president would forge ahead with what would be his first overseas trips, although he was initially reluctant.
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.
The attack claimed the lives of 14 people and injured nearly 70 others.
The explosion took place outside the Marco Polo hotel in an area frequently visited by Mr Duterte. He also told the news agency that his father had been nowhere near the blast at the time.
“These are extraordinary times, and I’m authorized to allow the security forces of this country to do searches”, Duterte told reporters.
“Earlier the Abu Sayyaf Group through “Abu Rami” claimed responsibility, but yesterday they denied it … so still we can not discount that aside from the Abu Sayyaf”, de la Rosa said.
The attack came as Philippine forces were on alert amid a military offensive against Abu Sayyaf extremists in southern Sulu province, which intensified last week after the militants beheaded a kidnapped villager.
Regional police chief Manuel Guerlan said a ring of checkpoints had been thrown around the city’s exit points.
However De la Cerna, spokeswoman of a task force investigating the explosion, said they were not ruling out other motives for the attack.
“Unfortunately, we can not frisk or order people to stop because it would be fascistic”.
Friday’s incident was the latest in the southern Philippine city since 2005 when suspected Islamist terrorists set off a bomb in a bus terminal in Ecoland village, killing a child and wounding five others.
His election has prompted a spike in drug-related killings, with more than 2,000 people killed since he took office on June 30, almost half of them in police operations.
“The European Union stands in solidarity with the people and the Government of the Philippines following yesterday evening’s bomb attack in the city of Davao”, it said in a statement released Saturday. He usually spends his weekends there and before becoming president he served for 22 years as mayor of that city, the country’s fourth largest.
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Duterte became well known for bringing relative peace and order to Davao with hardline security policies, while also brokering deals with local Muslim and communist rebels.
