MANILA, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte proclaimed on Monday a state of national emergency for the Philippines on account of lawless violence, a Malacanang presidential palace said in a statement.
Presidential Communications Office Assistant Secretary Kristian Ablan told reporters that "the proclamation technically took effect today and remains in force until lifted by the president."
He said Duterte "can call out the military as commander-in-chief by virtue of the constitution."
He said the proclamation commands the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippines National Police (PNP) to undertake measures permitted by the constitution and laws.
Ablan said the proclamation is mainly ordering both the AFP and the PNP to "suppress all forms of lawless violence in Mindanao and prevent lawless violence from spreading elsewhere across the country."
He said the state of national emergency on account of lawless violence gives "due regard to fundamental and civil political rights and has nothing to do with martial law or the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus."
"It's just a stepped-up campaign of the police and the military to ensure the safety of the general public," Ablan said.
The proclamation of a state of national emergency for the Philippines came barely three days after Duterte declared "a state of lawlessness," which authorized the military and the police "to run the country" in the wake of the terror attack Friday night at his hometown in Davao City.
The attack claimed the lives of 14 people and injured almost 70 others.
Police said the still unidentified perpetrators used a cellular phone-activated improvised mortar to carry out the attack.
A few hours after the attack, Duterte visited the bomb site shortly before dawn Saturday and told reporters, "I am declaring state of lawless violence. It's not martial law, but I am inviting now the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the military and the police, to run the country in accordance with my specifications."
Duterte clarified that the "state of lawlessness" is not synonymous to martial law, adding it merely requires "well-coordinated efforts of the military and the police."
"There will be major checkpoints," Duterte said, adding that there is no suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. "I have this duty to protect the country. I have this duty to keep intact the integrity of the nation," he said.
Duterte was in his hometown Davao City when the blast ripped off a crowded strip of the night market shortly after 10 p.m. Friday.
Duterte left for Laos on Monday to attend the ASEAN summit and related meetings which will also be attended by leaders from ASEAN dialogue partners which will start Tuesday.
