President Duterte raised the rhetoric over his bloody anticrime war to a new level on Friday, comparing it to Hitler and the Holocaust, and saying he would be “happy to slaughter” 3 million addicts.
Mr. Duterte issued his latest threat against drug dealers and users early Friday upon returning to his hometown in Davao City after visiting Vietnam, where he discussed his antidrug campaign with Vietnamese leaders and ways for their governments to fight transnational crimes, including illegal drugs.
President Duterte has said his public death threats against drug suspects are designed to scare them into stop selling drugs and to discourage would-be users. But his latest remarks took that crime-busting approach to a different level.
“Hitler massacred 3 million Jews …there’s 3 million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” Mr. Duterte said, referring to a Philippine government estimate of the number of drug addicts in the country. Historians say that 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis under Hitler before and during World War II.
During the presidential-election campaign earlier this year and during the three months he had held office, the tough-talking Duterte has threatened to drown drug suspects to fatten the fish in Manila Bay. He also threatened to execute drug traffickers by hanging —because he didn’t want to waste electricity on them—until their heads were severed from their bodies.
While Hitler victims were innocent people, President Duterte said his targets are “all criminals” and that getting rid of them would “finish the [drug] problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition.”
His campaign promise to end corruption and crimes, especially illegal drugs, within six months of taking office on June 30 carried Mr. Duterte to an overwhelming victory in the presidential election.
And since he won the election in May, more than 3,000 suspected drug dealers and users have been killed and nearly 700,000 others have surrendered in his crackdown, but he has asked for a six-month extension to finish the job.
Image credits: Kham/Pool Photo via AP