PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, January 9, ordered bystanders to "hold up" and "kill" bishops, whom he claimed has a lot of money.

Duterte made the remark, which seemed to be another "joke," during the birthday celebration of Masbate Governor Antonio Kho.

He issued the statement as he vented frustrations over the clergy's dissatisfaction over his moves to combat illegal drugs.

"Mag-harap ka doon sa nagsisimba, 'Ah iyan si Duterte, demonyo, demonic possession, ganoon.' Tapos siya pagsabi pa sa ostiya, ganon, 'Sana mamatay na 'yan siya.' Buang ito," the President said.

(In front of the Catholic faithful attending mass, the priests will say, "Duterte is a demonic and under demonic possession." And during the breaking of the bread, they will say, "I hope he'll be dead." That's insane.)

"Kaya pagdating ko, sabi ko, 'Hoy, kayong mga tambay diyan, 'pag dumaan 'yang obispo ninyo, holdapan 'yan.' Maraming pera 'yan p***** i** niya. Patayin mo. Galit sa'kin 'yun (So I say, "To the bystanders, hold up the bishops. Son of a b****, they are rich. Kill them. They don't like me)," he added.

To recall, Duterte in December last year said it was better to kill "useless" and "stupid" bishops.

In another series of attacks against the Catholic Church leaders, the President stressed in his latest speech that the bishops were "inutile."

"Patayin mo 'yan lahat obispo diyan. Mga inutil iyan. Totoo (Kill all the bishops there. They're inutile. That's true)," he said.

Duterte earlier accused a prelate of stealing Church donations from parishioners.

Prior to the Masbate governor's birthday celebration, Duterte attended an event in Masbate on Thursday, where he said he was hopeful that the public would not get offended by his "strong words" or "joke" against his critics. (SunStar Philippines)