Philippine
police hunt four people after Davao city bombing
The Philippine police are searching
for four people after Friday’s bombing in the southern city of Davao that
killed 14 people and spurred President Rodrigo Duterte to put the entire
country under state of “lawlessness.”
Police
are looking for two men and one woman as “persons of interests,” and another
person that was seen talking to one of them, Chief Inspector Andrea dela
Cerna, spokeswoman of Southern Mindanao Regional Police Office, said Sunday.
Police have interviewed eight witnesses and are not discounting the
possibility that there could have been more than four people involved in the
bombing, she said.
Duterte,
who was at his official residence in Davao at the time of the bombing, has
declared a nationwide state of lawless violence, allowing him to use the
military to assist the police to fight crime and violence. National police
chief Ronald dela Rosa said Saturday that authorities are still trying to
confirm media reports that Abu Sayyaf, an extremist Muslim group operating in
the island of Mindanao, orchestrated the blast in the night market that
injured 67 people.
“The
bombing is a symbolic act,” independent political analyst Earl Parreno said
in a phone interview Sunday. “It’s a slap in the face for the president. The
group behind it wanted to send a message to President Duterte that even in
his hometown that he has declared safe and well protected they can stage a
bombing.”
The
blast was caused by an “improvised explosive device” possibly made of mortar,
fragments recovered from the scene show, dela Cerna said.
Highest alert
“Tighter
security is being implemented in the city, with the highest alert status in
effect and additional policemen sent to the city’s entrance and exit points,”
she said. “We still can’t say how long this will last.”
Before
assuming office June 30, Duterte was mayor of Davao City for two decades. He
won the May 9 presidential election with a margin of more than 15 percentage
points more than his closest rival, with his promise to crack down on
corruption and crime.
Philippine
stocks and the peso may not extend Friday’s rebound when markets open Monday
as local events overshadow recent US jobs data that support the outlook that
the Fed will not raise rates this month, according to Astro del Castillo,
managing director at First Grade Finance Inc. The benchmark Philippine Stock
Exchange Index rose 0.4 percent on Friday, halting a seven-day slide, while
the peso strengthened 0.2 percent, its first gain against the dollar in five
days.
“Most
investors might become more risk averse, limiting the impact of positive
developments abroad,” del Castillo said.
Overseas
investors pulled out $162 million from Philippine equities last week, the
biggest weekly outlflow in almost a year.
Knee-jerk reaction
“We
expect some knee-jerk reaction but the sound macro fundamentals will not be
lost to the markets,” central bank Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said in a
mobile-phone text message. “We will continue to see a generally stable
exchange rate.”
Previous
to Friday’s bombing, Davao and other areas in Mindanao were already placed
under heightened alert amid a military operation against Abu Sayyaf, which
has been responsible for abductions and executions in Mindanao, home to the
nation’s Muslims. Duterte, who ordered soldiers last month to finish off the
Abu Sayyaf, is waging a war against drug syndicates, a campaign that has seen
about 2,000 people killed so far and has drawn criticism from human rights
groups and the United Nations.
“I
have this duty to protect the country. I have this duty to keep intact the
integrity of our nation,” Duterte told reporters Saturday. “So I am declaring
now a state of lawlessness. It is not martial law.”
Duterte
said the state of lawlessness, which involves deploying more soldiers and
police to conduct searches and set up checkpoints, will be in place until he
decides it is safe to lift. He referred to the bombing as terrorism.
“The
key point is that a lasting peace agreement in Mindanao is still somewhat far
away,” said Gareth Leather, senior Asia economist at Capital Economics Ltd.
in London. “They wanted to open it up to investment and tourism and this
latest explosion will act as deterrent.”
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Chủ Nhật, 4 tháng 9, 2016
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