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The Philippine Führer?
FOR implying that he is willing to go to extreme lengths for the war against illegal drugs, not unlike the harrowing genocide perpetrated by German dictator Adolf Hitler, President Duterte is reaping condemnation here and abroad.
Upon his arrival in Davao City on Friday following an official visit to Vietnam, the President said, “Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there are three million drug addicts… I’d be happy to slaughter them.”
“At least if Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have…You know my victims, I would like to be, all criminals, to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition,” he added.
We know that the President has a very colorful language. This may well be one of his many hyperbolic remarks. But we cannot just let this pass without batting an eyelash. Threatening to massacre three million Filipinos – all of whom the President claims to be drug criminals – is a serious matter. The President comparing himself to Adolf Hitler is troubling, to say the least. He’s referencing to a mass killing.
According to Amnesty International, the statement served no discernible purpose other than to put more lives at risk. Various individuals and organizations including Jewish groups have condemned the remark as “disgusting rhetoric.” Nazi Germany slaughtered some six million Jews by the end of World War II. The German foreign ministry said any comparison of the singular atrocities of the Holocaust with anything else is totally unacceptable.
Not a few have appealed to the good sense of the President to always abide by the rule of law and respect human rights. When it comes to his war against illegal drugs and criminality, Filipinos are giving him their unequivocal support. But if he starts comparing himself to Hitler, they’re not having any of it.
The President should remember that his utterances as chief executive have the weight of policy, and such remark only serves to fan the flames of impunity and senseless violence. Or does the President aspire to become the Philippine Führer?
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