MANILA, Philippines (AFP)–Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cancelled Saturday his first foreign trip to Brunei following a deadly blast in his home town, his spokesman said.
An improvised explosive device tore through a night market in the southern city of Davao on Friday, killing at least 14 people and leaving another 67 injured.
Duterte, who was in Davao at the time of the bombing, visited the blast site and has been monitoring the situation there with his cabinet and top security officials.
Presidential communications secretary Martin Andanar told AFP that the Brunei visit set for Sunday until Monday had been called off.
Duterte, who took office two months ago, was initially scheduled to visit Bandar Seri Begawan as part of an inaugural trip to neighbouring countries.
He is still set to fly to Laos on Tuesday for a regional summit and to Indonesia on Thursday for a working visit, Andanar said.
Duterte has made peace and order his top priority, launching a war on crime that has claimed more than 2,000 lives.
After the blast, he declared a national “state of lawlessness”, which his security adviser said gave the military extra powers to conduct law enforcement operations normally done only by the police.
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