The Philippines is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, with about 90 per cent of the population identifying as Catholics.
But that hasn't stopped President Rodrigo Duterte from repeatedly taking aim at the Catholic Church. Local news reports have quoted Duterte - who is known for his incendiary remarks - as saying: "These bishops that you guys have, kill them. They are useless fools. All they do is criticise."
The Catholic Church has emerged as a vocal critic of Duterte's war on drugs, which has resulted in thousands of deaths since 2016. And in the past year, three Catholic priests have been killed in the Philippines.
Duterte has previously used a crude term to describe Pope Francis, and he angered Catholics in the Philippines this year when he called God "stupid" in a televised address. He also pushed back on the concept of "original sin", saying: "What kind of religion is that? I can't accept it." On Thursday, his office excused his comments about killing bishops as "hyperbole". "We should be getting used to this President. He makes certain statements for dramatic effect," presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said, according to the Philippine news site Rappler. "The President, just like any ordinary human being, is upset when the good things that he does for this country are not even appreciated by people who are supposed to support it, like the church."
But many see the President's comments as regularly crossing the line from jokey to offensive. In August, he said that "as long as there are many beautiful women, there will be more rape cases".
