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Thousands of Catholics have joined a march with church leaders in Manila in one of the largest shows of opposition to President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly crackdown against illegal drugs and attempts to revive the death penalty.

Police say about 10,000 people joined the "Walk for Life" march and rally Saturday starting at dawn at the Rizal Park, carrying placards that read "Choose life" and "No to death penalty." Organizers gave a larger estimate of the crowd.

It's the latest sign of the dominant Roman Catholic Church's increasing activism against a government crackdown that has left thousands of drug suspects dead and efforts by pro-Duterte legislators to re-impose capital punishment as early as next month. Duterte has been antagonistic to the influential church, once calling it "the most hypocritical institution."