Philippine declared a "state of lawlessness" on Saturday after suspected Abu Sayyaf extremists detonated a bomb that killed 14 people and wounded about 70 in his southern hometown.

Duterte, who inspected the scene of Friday night's attack at a night market in downtown Davao city, said his declaration that covers the southern Mindanao region did not amount to an imposition of martial law.
It would allow troops to be deployed in urban centers to back up the police in setting up checkpoints and increasing patrols, he said.

An Abu Sayyaf (Pledged allegiance to Islamic state or ISIS, ISIL , IS and Daesh) spokesman, Abu Rami, claimed responsibility for the blast near the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao University and a five-star hotel, but Duterte said investigators were looking at other possible suspects, including Philippine drug syndicates, which he has targeted in a bloody crackdown.

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