President-elect Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has intensified his attack on the Catholic Church as well as the media for their alleged hypocrisy and vested interests.
Speaking at a press conference late Thursday night, Duterte also blasted the United Nations, cursing the world body for failing to solve the conflict in the Middle East and not helping the "black people" in Africa, the online news website Rappler reports.
"Church, journalism, politicians, police – all! There's a veil of hypocrisy," Duterte said during the press conference.
Duterte won the presidency on a platform of "change," saying he will address issues close to the hearts of Filipinos that were supposedly neglected by outgoing President Benigno Aquino III.
He has vowed to eradicate or suppress crime in three to six months.
However, criticism of Duterte is piling up in the Philippines and even overseas for his alleged human rights abuses and foul language.
Reacting to these criticisms, Duterte slammed "low-life journalists" who take bribes from politicians while praising honest media "crusaders."
He said journalists "think too much of themselves," daring those who were calling for a boycott of his press conferences to carry out their threat, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.
Local and international media groups earlier expressed outrage at Duterte's endorsement of killing corrupt journalists, warning that his comments could incite more murders in a nation already considered as one of the world's most dangerous places for reporters.
Duterte, who won a landslide election victory last month after vowing to kill tens of thousands of criminals, told reporters on Tuesday there was justification for killing corrupt journalists.
"Just because you're a journalist you are not exempted from assassination, if you're a [expletive]," Duterte said when asked how he would address the problem of media killings in the Philippines after a reporter was shot dead in Manila last week.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines denounced Duterte for his "appalling" comments, saying that although there were corruption problems in the industry, these did not justify murdering reporters.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also expressed outrage over Duterte's remarks, calling on the media to boycott his press conferences and take legal action against him.
"Not only are these statements unworthy of a president but they could also be regarded as violations of the law on defamation or even the law on inciting hatred and violence,'' said Benjamin Ismail, head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk.
"We urge organisations that represent the media to not overlook comments of this kind and to bring lawsuits. We also urge the media to boycott the Duterte administration's news conferences until the media community gets a public apology,'' Ismail said.
During his press conference on Thursday, Duterte once again denounced erring bishops and priests.
He referred to reports in 2011 that some bishops received luxury sports utility vehicles or SUVs from the Philippine government. The bishops said they wanted to use these vehicles for pastoral work in remote communities.
"A luxury car for charity, my dear bishops?" Duterte asked while spewing curses on them.
The incoming president also blurted out a curse at the U.N., telling the world body, "Do not force on me your code of conduct. You're not supposed to do that. I never signed anything which says that I have to behave in this manner or in that manner," according to Rappler.
His remarks were spurred when a reporter asked for his reaction on reports that his incendiary comments are being picked up by international news groups and that he is being threatened with lawsuits in the U.N.
"You're a [expletive], U.N. You can't even solve the killings there in the Middle East," Duterte retorted in the local Tagalog language. "They're killing people. You cannot even lift a finger in Africa. They're butchering the black people there," he added.
In November 2015, when he was still running for president, Duterte also cursed Pope Francis for causing traffic when he visited the Philippines in January that same year.
