Nina YAS OCAMPO, ELENA ABEN at BEN ROSARIO
Muling idinepensa ng Malacañang kahapon si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, na inuulan ngayon ng batikos kaugnay ng kontrobersiyal niyang komento tungkol sa dating Nazi leader na si Adolf Hitler.
Sa isang pahayag, sinabi kahapon ni Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella na sinagot lang ng Punong Ehekutibo ang negatibong pagkukumpara rito kay Hitler.
Binigyang-diin din ni Abella na kinikilala ng Pilipinas ang malalim na kahalagahan ng mga dinanas ng mga Hudyo sa panahon ni Hitler, partikular na ang masalimuot na kasaysayan ng Holocaust.
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“The President’s reference to the slaughter was an oblique deflection of the way he has been pictured as a mass murderer, a Hitler, which is a label that he rejects,” sabi ni Abella.
“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,” dagdag niya.
“He likewise draws an oblique conclusion that while the Holocaust was an attempt to exterminate the future generation of Jews, the so-called extrajudicial killings, wrongly attributed to him, will, nevertheless, result in the salvation of the next generation of Filipinos.”
Sa televised press conference niya nitong Biyernes, binira ni Duterte ang hindi pinangalanan niyang mga kritiko na ayon sa kanya ay inilalarawan siya bilang pinsan ni Hitler at ikinukumpara ang kanyang madugong digmaan kontra droga sa genocide, gayung wala namang isinasagawang imbestigasyon tungkol dito.
“Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there is three million, there’s a three million drug addict. There are. 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,” paliwanag niya.
TINULIGSA
Agad namang binatikos ng gobyerno ng Germany ang nasabing pahayag ni Duterte, at sinabi ni German foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer: “Any comparison of the singular atrocities of the Holocaust with anything else is totally unacceptable”.
Para naman kay United States Defense Chief Ashton Carter, “Speaking personally for myself, I find those comments deeply troubling.”
Nagpahayag din ng pagkabigla at galit ang mga grupong Jewish at hiniling na bawiin ni Duterte ang nasabing komento, at humingi ng paumanhin.
‘VIRTUAL CONFESSION’
Para naman sa independent opposition leader na si Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, ang napaulat na pagkukumpara ng Pangulo sa sarili kay Hitler ay isang “virtual confession” na ito “instigated, encouraged and condoned” ang pagpatay sa halos 4,000 nang sangkot sa droga.
“President Duterte’s rhetoric has worsened from recklessness to culpability, from accusations to confession of guilt,” ani Lagman.
