MANILA:Philippines President RodrigoDuterte appeared to liken himself to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler onFriday and said he would...
MANILA:Philippines President RodrigoDuterte appeared to liken himself to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler onFriday and said he would "be happy" to exterminate three milliondrug users and peddlers in the country.
In a rambling speech on his arrival in Davao City after avisit to Vietnam, Duterte told reporters that he had been"portrayed to be some cousin of Hitler" by critics.
Noting that Hitler had murdered millions of Jews, Dutertesaid: "There are three million drug addicts (in thePhilippines).I'd be happy to slaughter them.
"If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have...," hesaid, pausing and pointing to himself.
"You know my victims.I would like (them) to be allcriminals to finish the problem of my country and save the nextgeneration from perdition."
Duterte was voted to power in a May election on the back ofa vow to end drugs and corruption in the country of 100 millionpeople.He took office on June 30 and over 3,100 people havebeen killed since then, mostly drug users and peddlers, inpolice operations and in vigilante killings.