Davao bombing: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declares 'state of lawlessness'

From the Sydney Morning Herald (Sep 3): Davao bombing: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declares 'state of lawlessness'

Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has declared "a state of lawlessness" after a bomb ripped through a popular night market in his home city of Davao, killing 14 people and wounding 67 others.

The declaration will see checkpoints and curfews imposed across the island nation of 100 million where Mr Duterte's crackdown on drug pushers has left more than 2000 dead since 1 July.

The bomb tore through a street market late on Friday outside the Marco Polo hotel, a frequent haunt of Mr Duterte, who was in the southern city at the time but was not hurt.

Among those killed was a 12 year-old child.

Immediate suspicion for the attack fell on the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf, a brutal group of up 500 fighters who have launched hundreds of terror attacks in the past from their southern island bases.

Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana​ said early on Saturday the bombing was suspected to be in retaliation to an intensified military operation against the Abu Sayyaf, adding that the military has been put on high alert "especially in urban centres for possible other terrorist acts by this group."

"While nobody has come up to own the act we can only assume that this was perpetrated by the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf that has suffered heavy casualties in the past week," Mr Lorenzana told reporters.

"We have predicted this and have warned our troops accordingly but the enemy is also adept at using the democratic space granted by our constitution to move around freely and unimpeded to sow terror."

Mr Duterte last week ordered the military to use "full force" to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf after the group rejected a call to lay down their arms.

"Go out and destroy them. Kill whoever they are," he said.

More than two dozen Abu Sayyaf are believed to have been killed in battles in the past week.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told reporters that investigators have found shrapnel from a mortar-based bomb, indicating Friday's attack was designed to inflict mass casualties.

Mr Duterte said after visiting the bomb site at 4am on Saturday that "I have this duty to protect the country. I have this duty to keep intact the integrity of the nation."

He said while the declaration is not martial law "it will require nationwide, well co-ordinated efforts by the military and police".

"This is not the first time Davao has been sacrificed in the altar of violence," he said citing past acts of violence, including a bombing at Davao airport in 2003 that killed more than 20 people and was blamed on Islamic extremists.

Mr Duterte said he had ordered the military to conduct searches and set-up checkpoints in the city where he was mayor for 22 years before being swept into the presidency in May vowing to wipe out drug pushers and criminals.

"Everybody can come in and out of Davao," he said.

"Davao is safe, there is no criminality here except terrorism." Asked for his message to the people, he said "keep calm".

The bomb is the first violent challenge to Mr Duterte's rule that has stoked deep divisions in the county although his crackdown on drug pushers has been hugely popular.

The Philippines has one of Asia's highest rates of illegal drug use and crime.

Soon after becoming president Mr Duterte launched peace talks with communists, who last week agreed to an indefinite ceasefire.

Only last week Mr Duterte shrugged off reports of a plot to assassinate him, saying threats were to be expected.

Mr Duterte's son Paolo Duterte told Reuters his father was far from the site of the blast when the explosion took place.

Davao is located in Mindanao, a large southern island beset by decades of Islamic insurgency. However the city has been seen as largely safe for years as Mr Duterte oversaw a brutal campaign to wipe out crime which human rights groups said include hundreds of extrajudicial killings.

Amnesty International described the bombing as "a brutal and horrific act that has led to a tragic loss of civilian lives" and the victims and survivors have the right to seek justice.

But Champa Patel, Amnesty's senior research advisor for south-east Asia, warned the government against responding by "resorting to unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests or other human rights violations that will only play into the hands of those who seek an ever-widening cycle of violence and abuse."

http://www.smh.com.au/world/davao-bombing-philippine-president-rodrigo-duterte-declares-state-of-lawlessness-20160903-gr7z3p.html