Philippines president apologizes to Jews after comparing himself to Hitler
Public officials are frequently compared to Adolf Hitler by their opponents for supporting any policy that can be construed as authoritarian. But it鈥檚 rare for a politician to compare himself to the Nazi leader.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte took the even rarer step Sunday of apologizing to Jewish communities worldwide for likening his tough-on-crime campaign to the Holocaust.
鈥淗itler massacred 3 million Jews 鈥� there鈥檚 3 million drug addicts. There are. I鈥檇 be happy to slaughter them,鈥� Mr. Duterte had said Friday, sparking outrage. (As many as聽 were killed during World War II, according to estimates cited by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.)
During a speech Sunday at a festival, broadcast live on television, Duterte apologized 鈥減rofoundly and deeply鈥� while insisting his original comments were made in response to the way critics have portrayed him.
鈥淚 would like to make it [known], here and now, that there was never an intention on my part to derogate the memory of the 6 million Jews murdered,鈥� Duterte said.
A spokesman for Duterte had on Saturday said the politician鈥檚 controversial remarks were an 鈥渙blique deflection鈥� of his being characterized as a mass murderer.
Since he took office three months ago, after campaigning on promises to wage a war on drugs, more than 3,100 people have been killed, most of them alleged drug users and dealers. The narcotics crackdown has prompted challenges from US President Barack Obama and UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
This is not the first time Duterte鈥檚 mouth has gotten him into trouble with the international community. Last month,聽US officials canceled a meeting between Duterte and Mr. Obama after Duterte made a foul-mouthed reference to Obama'a mother. The two leaders briefly met days afterward at a聽summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
But the policies and the man, who has been nicknamed 鈥渢he Punisher,鈥� remain popular among Filipinos, many of whom see the president鈥檚 past political performance as proof that his policies work, as 海角大神鈥檚 correspondent Ralph Jennings reported from the Philippines in June:
When he took over as mayor of Davao, Duterte inherited a city that was caught in violent strife between leftist rebels and a government counterinsurgency campaign. Teen gangs fought in the streets over drug sales. You couldn鈥檛 make a mobile phone call outside at night without fear of someone snatching the phone. Davao was dubbed the murder capital of the Philippines.
It is a very different town now. Drug crimes have plummeted 75 percent since Duterte became mayor, says city spokesman Leo Villareal. Muggings and pickpocketing are rare, he adds, and leftists are no longer violent.
The most common drug, the methamphetamine strain called shabu, is no longer sold in the streets, locals say, and it鈥檚 safe to walk anywhere at night.
Duterte 鈥� who is accused of employing "" as mayor, as The Washington Post reported 鈥� promised to end crime within six months of assuming the presidency, but he has since asked for another six months.
Material from was included in this report.
