Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said Mr. Duterte’s move in the wake of the bombing that left 14 people dead and scores wounded was “alarming” yet “legally unnecessary” since the President could call out the military even without such declaration.

“What has been happening unabated and with impunity are the extrajudicial killings perpetrated by police authorities and their civilian cohorts,” Lagman said. “State violence begets violence by nonstate actors.”

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