Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday summoned about 100 cops accused of various crimes to his palace driveway and unloaded on them in front of the media.

He also said he would deploy a "special unit" to hunt and kill cops involved with drug or crime syndicates.

Duterte's harsh drug war is estimated to have killed over 12,000 people.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday summoned about 100 police officers accused of various crimes to his palace, lined them up in front of reporters, and threatened to kill them, the Philippines-based news site Rappler reported.

"You are useless to me," he said in front of the cameras on the driveway of the Malacañang Palace, according to the report. "You are a scourge to society."

He added: "If you keep doing that, son of a b----, I'll really kill you."

Watch Duterte deliver those warnings in a mixture of Tagalog and English in the video below. It's not clear whether the people standing behind him are the cops.

The cops had been accused of robbery, extortion, serious illegal detention, kidnapping, rape, being absent without official leave, serious neglect of duty, and grave misconduct, Metro Manila Police Chief Guillermo Eleazar told Rappler.

Some had been taken out of prison just to be at the event, Eleazar said, adding that they would be taken back to jail afterward.

Duterte also warned that he would deploy a "special unit" to hunt and kill cops involved with drug or crime syndicates, as he continues his brutal drug war that activists estimate has killed over 12,000 people.

"I have a special unit which will watch you for life," Duterte said, "and if you commit even a small mistake, I'll ask that you be killed."

Duterte has been ramping up his rhetoric against corrupt police and military personnel in recent months. Last month, he promised to "terminate" officers who are involved in the drug trade or have killed for money.

Also last month, a Philippine mayor who was said to have drug ties was shot dead in an assassination. Separately, a local news site identified a police officer assigned to a drug-enforcement unit as being involved in an assassination attempt on another politician.