“Duterte has distinguished himself as a frothing-in-the-mouth fascist who incites the worst violations of international humanitarian law,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of the Philippine rights group Karapatan.

Duterte, in remarks last week to a crowd that included about 200 former rebels, suggested his soldiers be given new orders from “the mayor.” Duterte rocketed to fame in his country for conducting a bloody drug war while serving as the hard-nosed mayor of Davao City.

“Tell the soldiers. There’s a new order coming from the mayor,” Duterte said last week. “We won’t kill you. We will just shoot your vagina so that … if there is no vagina, it would be useless.”