Duterte who came into power after vouching to kill all of the country’s drug users and peddlers has been doing just that. (Photo: File)

Beijing: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, already under fire for overseeing a state-sanctioned blood bath, has reached a new level in a series of misogynistic and violent remarks, wherein he has encouraged the country’s armed forces to ‘shoot female rebels in their vaginas’.

Duterte made the comment on February 7th while addressing the Armed Forces of Philippines (AFP), who were formerly a group of communists, the Washington Post reported.

“The Presidential Communications Office included the comment in the official transcript from the event, but replaced the word ‘vagina’ with a dash.”

"Tell the soldiers. 'There's a new order coming from the mayor. We won't kill you. We will just shoot your vagina,'" he said.

Duterte then took it further adding that, "If there is no vagina, it would be useless," indicating -- as typical patriarchal fascists do -- that women are worthless without their genitals.

Duterte who came into power after vouching to kill all of the country’s drug users and peddlers has been doing just that. The shocking numbers of Filipinos that have lost their lives, and arbitrarily so, has urged the international criminal court to open investigations into Duterte’s role in sanctioning state-sponsored violence.

This is not the first time that Duterte has come under the limelight for being openly misogynistic and tried to brush it away ‘as a joke’. Not too long ago, Duterte’s spokesman accused women of ‘overreacting’ and urged them to laugh off the president’s denigrating comments.

“According to the official transcript the event, the crowd did, in fact, laugh.”

He has in the past ‘joked’ about rape and targeted female politicians with unsolicited comments about their sexuality.

"Duterte (sic) latest nasty remark openly encourages violence against women, contributes to the impunity on such, and further confirms himself as the most dangerous macho-fascist in the government right now," said a representative for Gabriela, a feminist organization, in a statement.

"He is pushing the fascist AFP to commit more bloody human rights violations and grave abuses of international humanitarian law, and takes state terrorism against women and the people to a whole new level."