MANILA, Philippines: The presumptive Philippine president-elect has blasted the country’s dominant Roman Catholic church as “the most hypocritical institution” and accused some of its bishops of corruption for allegedly asking favors from politicians, including him.

In a late-night news conference that dragged on to early Sunday in southern Davao city, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte questioned the relevance of Catholic bishops, citing his overwhelming victory in the May 9 presidential election based on an unofficial count despite efforts by them to persuade Filipinos not to vote him.

Duterte cursed the bishops, calling them “SOBs” and accusing them of benefiting from public money while the poor could not even afford to eat and buy medicine.

Such public condemnation of the influential church by a top leader is rare in Asia’s bastion of Catholicism.

Probe into Duterte's death squad halted

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has halted an investigation into an alleged vigilante death squad linked to Duterte after the key witness disappeared, likely due to fear of the incoming leader, officials said.

Outgoing Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas said the investigation could not proceed because the sole witness had left the government’s witness protection program.

“There’s really nothing there. I don’t think the witness is there any more... because he hasn’t surfaced again,” he said.

“Unless that (person) comes forward, it’s very difficult to do anything about it,” he told reporters.

Former justice secretary Leila de Lima, who initiated the probe into the death squads, said Sunday the witness clearly feared Duterte — who was elected president in a landslide on May 9.

“From all indications, the decision of the witness to leave (the protection program) is definitely in reaction to Duterte’s (likely)victory,” said de Lima, who was elected senator in the May 9 polls.

Duterte, longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao, had boasted while campaigning of being involved with vigilante death squads that had killed over a thousand people in his city.

He had also vowed that once elected, he would kill 100,000 criminals and dump so many in Manila Bay that the “fish will grow fat” from feeding on them.

De Lima told AFP that “even before the elections, he (the witness) was worried of a Duterte victory.”

The former justice secretary said the witness asked to leave the witness protection program after she resigned from the department in October to run for office.

Human rights groups have accused Duterte of organizing or tolerating vigilante squads that have targeted suspected criminals and street children in Davao, killing more than 1,000 people since the 1980s.

But Duterte, whose tough-talking style and ruthless approach to crime has won him a huge following, has brushed aside such concerns.

'Disturbing failure'

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the decision to drop the investigation was “a disturbing failure” to address the many government-linked killings in the strife-torn Philippines.

“The decision sends a chilling message that those responsible for targeted killings don’t need to fear about being punished for their egregious crimes,” the group said in a statement on Sunday.

It called on the government to reopen the investigation.

Spokesmen for Duterte, who takes office on June 30, could not be contacted for comment.

(From reports of AP and AFP)