Duterte cancels Brunei trip after Davao City blast

CANCELLED TRIP. President Rodrigo Duterte chooses to cancel his Brunei trip after declaring a state of lawlessness in the entire Philippines. Photo by Manman Dejeto/AFP

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to cancel his trip to Brunei, hours after a deadly explosion in Davao City.

"The Brunei trip is cancelled," said Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on Saturday, September 3, in a text message to media.

Andanar said Duterte was supposed to depart for Brunei at 4 pm Saturday. He was scheduled to be in Brunei until September 5.

The Philippine Embassy in Brunei sent out a message to the media saying Duterte's visit is "postponed."

On Friday night, Andanar had already told the media that the President wished to cancel one or some of his upcoming foreign trips in the aftermath of the night market explosion.

But Andanar had said Duterte eventually decided to push through with the trips.

So far, there is no official word on whether or not the Laos and Indonesia trips have been cancelled as well.

But Duterte, in an ambush interview, said, "I am going to the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit."

The President is expected to attend the summit to be held in Laos from September 6 to 8. He is then scheduled to fly to Indonesia where he will stay from September 8 to 9.

Hours after the deadly explosion, Duterte declared a "state of lawlessness" over the entire country in order to facilitate better coordination of military and police in the face of "lawless violence." – Rappler.com