The Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has called for the death penalty in the country to be reinstated, claiming growing atheism and agnosticism means people have a lack of fear and respect for the law.

The death penalty was officially abolished in the largely Catholic country in 2006, but Mr Duterte said that ‘if God doesn’t exist’, capital punishment is the only way to ensure justice for the victims of terrible crimes.

Speaking in Manila, Mr Duterte also questioned God’s existence himself and addressed God directly in his speech, asking “where are you?”

He also hit out at priests and human rights groups who he labelled “bleeding hearts”, for saying the death penalty did not deter crime and said it was the fault of previous presidents for not using capital punishment, the Philippines' Inquirer.net reports.

He said: “Every president along the way didn’t impose it only because the Catholic Church and all the bleeding hearts would say that only God could kill. But what if there is no God?”

He pointed at Isis and the plight of women and children in war-torn Syria, who he said are burned if they refuse to have sex with Isis militants.

“When a one-year-old baby, 18-months-old baby is taken from the mother’s arms brought under a jeep and raped and killed. So where is God? My God, where are you?” asked Mr Duterte.

“I believe in God but that is my perpetual question to him,” he added.

“Where were you when we needed you?” He asked.

“It’s not enough to say that at the end of the world, he will judge the living and the dead. What would be the purpose of all of that if the heartaches, sorrows and agony have already been inflicted in this world?” Mr Duterte said.

He also drew attention to growing rates of agnosticism and atheism in the Philippines. “It is not only one or two or three,” he said. “In this age a lot are questioning [God] now.”

This, he said, was responsible for Filipinos’ lack of fear and therefore their lack of respect for the law.

Mr Duterte was elected president in June 2016, and has earned a reputation as a loose cannon, after calling Barack Obama a “son of a whore”, ahead of a meeting with the US president.

He also threatened to eat a group of Islamist militants alive after they killed 14 people in his home city of Davao.

The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Show all 9 1 /9 The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On killing drug addicts “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. If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful” The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Message to China “I will go there on my own with a Jet Ski, bringing along with me a [Phillipino] flag and a pole, and once I disembark, I will plant the flag on the runway and tell the Chinese authorities, ‘Kill me’ ” AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Christmas message to law-breakers “If you do not want to stop, and just continue committing crimes, then this would be your last Merry Christmas” AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On sex life “I was separated from my wife. I’m not impotent. What am I supposed to do? Let this hang forever? When I take Viagra, it stands up” AFP/Getty Images The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On the drugs trade “None of my children are into illegal drugs. But my order is, even if it is a member of my family, ‘kill him'" AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Insulting the Pope “We were affected by the traffic. It took us five hours. I asked why, they said it was closed. I asked who is coming. They answered, the pope. I wanted to call him: ‘Pope, son of a wh**e, go home. Do not visit us again’” AFP/Getty Images The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Joke about rape “I saw her face and I thought, 'What a pity... they raped her, they all lined up. I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first” AFP/Getty The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Insulting Barack Obama "Mr Obama should be respectful and refrain from throwing questions at me about the killings, or son of a bitch, I will swear at you in that forum" REUTERS The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants "If I have to face them, you know I can eat humans. I will really open up your body. Just give me vinegar and salt, and I will eat you. If you annoy me to the fullest... I will eat you alive. Raw" EPA

“They will pay. When the time comes, I will eat you in front of people,” Mr Duterte said at the time. “If you make me mad, in all honesty, I will eat you alive, raw.”