Jewish groups condemn Duterte’s Hitler remarks

Jewish groups have condemned President Rodrigo Duterte's remarks that he is willing to do what Hitler did to the Jews to go after criminals in the country.

In a speech in Davao City after his official visit to Vietnam, Duterte 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.

Duterte's remarks did not sit well with Jewish groups in the United States.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Digital Terrorism and Hate project, called them "outrageous."

"Duterte owes the victims (of the Holocaust) an apology for his disgusting rhetoric," Cooper said.

The Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish group based in the United States, said Duterte's comments were "shocking for their tone-deafness."

"The comparison of drug users and dealers to Holocaust victims is inappropriate and deeply offensive," said Todd Gutnick, the group's director of communications. 

"It is baffling why any leader would want to model himself after such a monster," Gutnick said.

Duterte was voted to power in a May election on the back of a vow to end drugs and corruption in the country of 100 million people. He took office on June 30 and thousands have been killed since then, mostly alleged drug users and dealers, in police operations and in alleged vigilante killings.

Aquino's warning

Two days before the May polls, outgoing President Benigno Aquino III had warned that Duterte's rising popularity was akin to that of Hitler in the 1920s and 1930s.

"I hope we learn the lessons of history," Aquino said in widely reported remarks. "We should remember how Hitler came to power."

Duterte has been scathing about criticism of his anti-drugs campaign and has insulted the United Nations and the European Union, as well as Obama, at various times in recent weeks.

On Friday, reacting to critical comments on his war on drugs by US Senators Patrick Leahy and Benjamin Cardin, Duterte said: "Do not pretend to be the moral conscience of the world. Do not be the policeman because you do not have the eligibility to do that in my country."

He also reiterated there will be no annual war games between the Philippines and the United States until the end of his six-year term, placing the longstanding alliance under a cloud of doubt. It also may make Washington's strategy of rebalancing its military focus towards Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China much more difficult to achieve.

Still, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, speaking before the latest remarks from Duterte, said Washington had an "ironclad" alliance with Manila.

A senior US defense official, also speaking earlier, told reporters that the United States had a long enduring relationship with the Philippines regardless of who was president.

"It's going to continue to survive based on what we think are strong US-Philippines common security interests, so we'll be engaging President Duterte further," the official said. — Reuters with GMA News