Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte declares state of lawlessness following bombing in Davao

He is quoted as saying"I must declare a state of lawless violence in this country, it's not martial law" Twelve dead and 60 injured in market explosion in home city of Phiippine President Rodrigo Duterte." I have this duty to protect this country." Police and the military promised to implement the nationwide state of lawlessness although there appeared to be confusion about what that actually entailed. Rumours have surfaced of a plot to assassinate Duterte, 71, which he has shrugged off as part of his job. The talk has been fuelled by his controversial crackdown on drugs that has killed more than 2,000 people since his June 30 inauguration and has been condemned by activists and the United Nations. "We can only assume that this was perpetrated by the tetrorist group Abu Sayyaf that had suffered heavy casualties" he said. The White House offered condolences and assistance to the Philippines a key Asian ally. The explosion went off at about 10:30 pm outside the Marco Polo hotel, a place Duterte visits often and used for meetings during a campaign for a May election which he won by a huge margin