“Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there are three million drug addicts...I’d be happy to slaughter them,” Duterte said on Friday, speaking upon his arrival in Davao City, on the southern island of Mindanao.
“If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have...,” he said, pausing to point to himself. “You know my victims. I would like [them] to be all criminals to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition.”
His inflammatory statements come after critics of his controversial war on drugs likened the leader to Adolf Hitler.
Duterte and his campaign against drugs have indeed been slammed by world governments including the US and the European Union, as well as the United Nations.
The leader has lashed out at those passing judgment, calling President Obama a “son of a b**ch/whore” earlier this month, and branding UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a “devil.” He gave the EU a “f**k you,” telling the bloc it is only criticizing the war on drugs in “atonement” for its own “sins.”
Duterte came into power in May on a promise to wipe out drugs and dealers. More than 3,100 people have been killed since the campaign began, either gunned down by authorities in late-night drug operations or murdered by vigilantes.
Those killed are considered to be drug suspects, though many have been misidentified as such. They are murdered before they are charged or given a chance to stand trial. Their bodies are often dumped on the side of the road bearing signs which read “pusher.”
Despite worldwide criticism, Duterte shows no signs of ending the brutal campaign, as has vowed to continue until the end of his term. He has shrugged off all claims that his crackdown has violated human rights.
“I would like to make it now, here and now, that there was never an intention on my part to derogate the memory of the six million Jews murdered,” he said Sunday in a speech at a festival carried live on television.
“The reference to me was, I was supposedly Hitler, who killed many people.
“I apologize profoundly and deeply to the Jewish community… it was never my intention, but the problem was I was criticized, using Hitler comparing to me,” he added.
Duterte’s gaffe on Sunday came after critics called him the “cousin of Hitler” for his controversial heavy-handed approach to drug crime. Rights groups accuse the Philippines president of extrajudicial killings and other abuses, with an estimated 3,100 deaths attributed to the campaign since Duterte took office three months ago.
The Philippines president was elected on a promise to extend nationwide his anti-drug approach from the city of Davao. The 71-year-old was nicknamed ‘the Punisher’ after the vigilante anti-hero of Marvel comics.
The president also made a number of controversial remarks insulting leading world officials, including his US counterpart Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.