New Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who has recently declared “a bloody war” on drug cartels, has called on willing Filipinos to “go ahead and kill” drug addicts, amid concerns that “getting their parents to do it would be too painful.”

Duterte, who said during his campaign that some 100,000 criminals would die in his crackdown, their bodies dumped in Manila Bay, has been conspicuously deaf to criticism that he was promoting a “culture of death” in his native country.

After taking his oath inside the Malacanang presidential palace, Duterte, 71, continued his defiance and threats against drug traffickers in front of a crowd of some 500 people gathered in a Manila slum Thursday night.

“These sons of whores are destroying our children. I warn you, don’t go into that, even if you’re a policeman, because I will really kill you,” the outspoken Philippines leader told the crowd, AFP reported.

Full story: rt.com