Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte slammed his country's Catholic bishops on Wednesday. In a speech at the presidential palace on Wednesday, Duterte was quoted in local news reports as saying, in a mix of Filipino and English, "These bishops that you guys have, kill them. They are useless fools. All they do is criticize."
In a later speech, Duterte called the Catholic Church "the most hypocritical institution".
An alleged drug dealer is handcuffed after a drug buy bust operation conducted by policemen in Manila, May 12, 2018. /VCG Photo
It was not the first time Duterte used strong words against Catholic bishops. Though a baptized Catholic, Duterte was angered by some bishops' open criticism against his signature policy of a crackdown on drugs.
Last month, the Philippine Star reported that Duterte called out the Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Caloocan, who was openly critical of his drug policy, saying that "I suspect you are into illegal drugs."
In a speech on November 26, Duterte urged Catholics to stop going to church and just build their own chapels.
In 2013, according to the Catholic Directory of the Philippines, 76.18 million people out of the country's estimated population of 96.8 million are Catholic.