Duterte, who was raised Catholic, says he has ceased going to Mass and that he could not be both mayor and a good Catholic: "If I obey the Ten Commandments or listen to priests, I would not be able to do anything as a mayor," he said in January.
According to the BBC, Duterte "has promised to continue his tough stance as president, but has offered few specific policies."
Duterte won the Filipino election despite his incendiary comments. He has openly admitted to being a womanizer, and vowed to execute large numbers of criminals and dump their bodies in Manila Bay.
And while campaining in April he commented on the 1989 rape and murder of a Protestant missionary from Australia, which had taken place in Davao, saying: "Was I mad because she was raped? Yes, that's one of the reasons. But she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first."
After Duterte's inflammatory comments about the Church, the Archdiocese of Davao responded by saying that it "respects and listens with humility to the views and statements of our incoming President Rodrigo Roa Duterte about the Church, including those that may be difficult to accept and things that may be contrary to our teachings," according to GMA News, a Filipino television network.
Msgr. Paul Cuison, the Davo archdiocese's spokesman, also said that the archdiocese has "always maintained a peaceful relationship with him and our doors are always open to him," and added that "we are one with the people of Davao in acknowledging all the good things that he has done especially to the poor and the marginalized."
But Archbishop Oscar Cruz, the Archbishop Emeritus of Lingayen-Dagupan, responded to Duterte's claims of hypocrisy in the Church by asking for evidence.
"He should say who did something, what was committed and where we can get evidence … He really should expose those sins because the Church will not just accept it. The Church has laws against such sins along with proper punishments," Archbishop Cruz said, according to The Standard of Manila.
Duterte will be sworn into office June 30 for a six-year term as president.