Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has spoken of his desire to reinstate the death penalty in the country saying growing atheism and agnosticism means people have developed a lack of fear and respect for the law.

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

Speaking to reporters on Monday the firebrand leader hinted that previous presidents had succumbed to pressure from priests and other 'bleeding hearts' who argued against capital punishment 'because only God can kill'.

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Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte meets female police officers. The firebrand leader has made many remarks that has earned him the reputation of a loose cannon

Duterte, who assumed office in June and has launched deadly raids against drug gangs in the country, also questioned his own belief in God during the address.

'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?' he asked the crowd in capital Manila .

'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?' Duterte said.

Around 3,500 people have been killed by Duterte's death squads that are at war with the country's drug gangs

Police officers inspect the bodies of two supposed drug dealers killed by government forces in Manila on Friday

The former mayor of Davao City then cited the rising number of agnostics and atheists in the country as a reason as to why citizens don't have respect for the law-as they won't be held accountable for their actions after death.

'People in the Philippines no longer believe in the laws, because the fear is not there,' Duterte said in a mix of Filipino and English.

'That is why I said, give me back the death penalty.'

Although Duterte has campaigned for the death penalty around 3,500 people have been killed by death squads in his war on drugs since he came to power.

The leader is prone to controversy. Earlier in September a former member of one of his death squads claimed that Duterte had shot dead a justice department agent with an Uzi submachine gun and fed bodies to crocodiles while serving as mayor of Davao.

The claim, made by an alleged hitman, was strongly denied by the President's office.

A meeting with US president Barack Obama was cancelled after he called him a 'son of a whore' as it was believed the talks would focus solely on the death squads.

He also aimed expletives at UN secretary Ban-Ki moon and said he would eat a group of Islamist militants alive after they killed 14 people in his home city of Davao.