Communications secretary Martin Andanar said the bomb appeared to have been made from a mortar round and doctors reported numerous victims had shrapnel wounds.
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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. Davao is the hometown of the current president Rodrigo Duterte: 14 people died in the attack, at least 60 were wounded.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, speaking to CNN Philippines, described the blast as an “unspecified explosion”.
“We are not new to this kind”.
When asked what group staged the bombing in Davao City, the PNP chief again said they were not discounting the possibility that the Abu Sayyaf terror and kidnap group was behind it.
“We have always been ready for this”.
Though Davao itself is relatively safe, it is in Mindanao, a large southern island province beset by poverty and decades of Muslim insurgency.
Duterte, who was in Davao at the time of the attack but not near the market, told reporters before dawn on Saturday that it was an act of terrorism, as he announced extra powers for the military.
Duterte clarified that the “state of lawlessness” is not synonymous to martial law, adding it merely requires “well-coordinated efforts of the military and the police”.
Duterte was at a meeting some 12 km (7.5 miles) away from downtown Davao when the explosion occurred.
Duterte’s office said it was “rooted” in an article of the constitution that puts the president in charge of the armed forces.
Duterte, who visited a morgue early Saturday to pay respects to the dead, said people should submit to searches and frisking at checkpoints for the sake of public safety.
“To everyone, we just wanted to let you know that we need your help”, said Mayor Sara Duterte. I can not control the movement of the citizens of the city and every Filipino has the right to enter and leave Davao. But that will not stop us because I can not go to them and say, “Please stop” and I am on bended knee, I kneel.
National police chief Ronald dela Rosa told a briefing in Manila that the Abu Sayyaf was a top focus of investigations, although he did not definitively lay the blame on the group, saying other leads were also being followed.
Mr Duterte served as mayor of Davao for years before elected to the presidency in June.
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His election has prompted a spike in drug-related killings, with more than 2,000 deaths since he took office on 30 June, almost half of them in police operations. A police official said at least 30 people had been hospitalized. Emergency teams were already in place.
