President Rodrigo Duterte scorned on Friday the Islamic State, saying to attract members it would tell them that they would die as martyrs, with virgins waiting for them in heaven.

In a speech before Indian businessmen in New Delhi, Duterte said the ISIS threat would become a problem worldwide in the years to come.

"It’s an ideology that is totally bankrupt, totally empty and the only objectives there are to kill and destroy for nothing, for no reason at all. And the come-on is that if you die a martyr, you go to heaven with 42 virgins waiting for you," he said.

In jest, Duterte told Indian businessmen that if he could only make as come-on also virgins in order for them to place their investments in the Philippines.

"Well, if I could just make it a come-on also for those who would like to go to my country," he said.

"You know, I’m half Muslim actually. My grandmother is a Maranao. My father comes from the Visayas. So I can talk really that they do not have the monopoly of discourse in this field. And I said one of the most --- is promising virgins when you go to heaven. I’d like to have the virgins here, not in heaven. God may not allow it," he added.

Duterte has sought for the extension of martial law in Mindanao until end of the year with the hope to finish the terrorists in Mindanao, including the ISIS-linked Maute members who attacked and occupied Marawi City for five months until October last year. Celerina Monte/DMS