DAVAO, Philippines: Explosive incoming Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has launched a series of obscenity-filled attacks on the Catholic Church, branding local bishops corrupt "sons of whores" who are to be blamed for the nation's fast-growing population.

Duterte also warned the Church, which has a centuries-old tradition of influencing Philippine politics, that his landslide election win this month showed he had more power than its leaders and would defy them by dramatically expanding family planning.

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