Duterte slams bishops anew: ‘Patayin ninyo, walang silbi’

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday wished death for Catholic bishops critical of his governance.

In a speech in Malacañang, Duterte said his God would not have made him president if he were "bullshit." He maintained that he does not have the same God as the Catholics.

"I never said I do not believe in God. What I said is your God is stupid, mine has a lot of common sense. That’s what I told the bishops. I never said I was an atheist," he said.

"I couldn’t have made it in life even the barest that I before the presidency without God. Pero itong mga obispo ninyo, patayin ninyo, walang silbi ‘yang mga gagong ‘yan. All they do is criticize," he added.

It was not the first time Duterte had spoken ill of members of the clergy.

Duterte on September 8 lashed out at a priest who jokingly wished him sick during a Mass held for opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV in the Senate, and returned the ill will, wishing the priest would die of sexually transmitted disease.

He has also repeatedly called the Catholic Church as the "most hypocritical institution" in the Philippines as some of its priests and bishops have criticized the increasing death toll in Duterte's war on drugs, which now stands at more than 5,000  deaths based on latest government data.

Last week, Duterte said Catholics should stop going to church and should just express their faith by setting up chapels in their homes. — MDM, GMA News