After reports of the blast, spokesman for the Islamic State rebel group Abu Sayyaf Abu Rami said that their group claims responsibility for the bombing.
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Duterte-Carpio said the money, which came from the funds of the city government, would be given in exchange for any information leading to the arrest of those behind the blast. 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.
The declaration will not amount to martial law, nor will it lead to the suspension of civil rights, they said. “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.
CNN reported the explosion was created by a device that was made of mortar rounds, which ended up killing 14 people and injuring 68 people, 15 of which are in critical condition.
Section 18, Article VII of the Constitution states that the president, as commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the country, may call out the armed forces whenever necessary to prevent or suppress lawless violence. The militants have been cited as a terrorist organization in the U.S. and the Philippines after they carried out a series of bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings.
Duterte said it was important that the suspects be caught alive so police could get more information.
“I did not experience them being abusive, and I don’t think they will be abusive now”, Arroyo said in a press briefing.
Police in the capital Manila went on full alert following the deadly blast.
The explosion apparently struck shortly after 10 p.m. local time, and police were working to determine what caused it, though they suspect it was a bomb.
The regional police chief, Chief Superintendent Manuel R. Gaerlan, said witnesses said the man who left the backpack after getting a massage at the open-air market hurriedly walked away from the scene, pretending not to hear those calling his attention.
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Duterte also raised the possibility of drug lords carrying out the attack as a way of fighting back against his war on crime. The newly-elected president has been active in the crackdown of drug syndicates around the country which has resulted to more than 2,000 drug-related deaths since July 1.
