Yasay decries ‘malicious spin’ on Hitler comment

MANILA, Philippines - “What a malicious spin to sow hatred against President Duterte and destabilize the country.”

Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. was reacting to articles and criticisms against the President’s comparison of his anti-drug war to the slaughter of Jews by Hitler and the Nazis.

“Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there are three million drug addicts (in the country). I’d be happy to slaughter them,” Duterte said during a speech after arriving in Davao from Vietnam.

Jewish groups said his remark was “outrageous,” while a human rights group said it was “obscene.”

But Yasay said Duterte did not make a comparison.

“No, he did not compare his all-out war on illicit drugs to Hitler’s evil campaign, much less justify his tough and uncompromising stance against the deadly scourge that threatens to tear apart families, our communities and the bright future of the nation amidst unverified and unsubstantiated media reports of state-sponsored EJKs (extrajudicial killings) during the statements he made upon arrival from his official trip to Vietnam,” Yasay wrote in a post on his Facebook account.

Yasay said he was in front when the President delivered his arrival speech in Davao City on Friday.

“Clearly and contextually, he assured the people that he was not waging a war against illegal drugs to exterminate the more than 3 million addicts and drug users in the country the way the Jews were exterminated by Hitler’s Nazis in Europe during WWII,” Yasay added.

He reiterated that the President was voted into office because of his promise to eliminate illegal drugs and criminality in the country, aside from ridding the government of corruption in all levels.

The Palace also clarified Duterte’s statement. Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the Philippines recognizes the deep significance of the Jewish experience, especially their tragic and painful history.

“We do not wish to diminish the profound loss of six million Jews in the Holocaust – that deep midnight of their story as a people. The President’s reference to the slaughter was an oblique deflection of the way he has been pictured as a mass murderer, a Hitler, a label he rejects,” Abella said.

“He likewise draws an oblique conclusion, that while the Holocaust was an attempt to exterminate the future generations of Jews, the so-called ‘extra-judicial killings,’ wrongly attributed to him, will nevertheless result in the salvation of the next generation of Filipinos.

“Hitler murdered thee million innocent civilians whereas Duterte was referencing to his ‘willingness to kill’ three million criminal drug dealers – to save the future of the next generation and the country. Those are two entirely different things,” Abella added. – With Christina Mendez