Philippines' UN ambassador invokes Third Reich in defense of drug war

The newly appointed ambassador to the UN cites Nazi-era economic and social reforms in part to defend a deadly crackdown on drug users and peddlers.

OCTOBER 4, 2016 10:07

Updated: OCTOBER 5, 2016 16:11

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte (photo credit: REUTERS) — Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte

(photo credit: REUTERS)

The newly appointed Philippines’ ambassador to the UN shares the same predilection for invoking the Nazis as his country’s president, evident in his Twitter feed where he made numerous references to the Third Reich on Monday morning.

Following in the footsteps of recently elected Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, Filipino UN Ambassador Teddy Locsin Jr. posted a number of comments on the social media platform in an apparent defense of Nazi-era policy decisions, including economic and social reforms, all in the name of fighting a drug war that has seen thousands of people killed since Duterte’s election earlier this year.

Locsin responded to a tweet that invoked the tragedy of the Holocaust, saying: “True, a horror, but they fixed broken Germany to repeat aggression ten times stronger. So they knew something more than killing Jews.”

@dqmcn True, a horror but they fixed broken Germany to repeat aggression ten times stronger. So they knew something more than killing Jews.
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) September 30, 2016

One post also appears to defend Nazi-era fiscal reforms, with Locsin saying: "It got us best Central Bank—anti-inflation, anti-foreign debt... Nazis hated inflation."

@dlccorps @dqmcn It got us best Central Bank—anti-inflation, anti-foreign debt; then Marcos abolished debt limits. Nazis hated inflation.
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) October 1, 2016

@alders_ledge If the Nazis were all wrong, how would Israel—abandoned by France, US, UK—have beat back 5 armies by blitzkrieg.
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) October 3, 2016

The account allegedly assigned to Locsin has not been verified by Twitter, but is regularly cited in Philippine media as belonging to the ambassador.

The comments follow remarks made by president Duterte, who said that, like Hitler, he would “be happy” to exterminate millions of drug users and peddlers in the country.

“Hitler massacred 3 million Jews. Now, there are 3 million drug addicts... I’d be happy to slaughter them,” he said during a speech given in Vietnam last week.

“If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have...,” he said, pausing and pointing to himself.

Historians have generally put the Nazi genocide against the Jews at six million.

Duterte later walked back the remarks, apologizing “profoundly and deeply” to the Jewish community days later.

“I would like to make it known, here and now, that there was never an intention on my part to derogate the memory of the six million Jews murdered,” he said in a speech at a festival carried live on television on Sunday.

Duterte was voted into power in a May election on the back of a vow to end drug abuse and corruption in the country of 100 million people. He took office on June 30, and over 3,100 people have been killed since then, mostly drug users and peddlers, in police operations and in vigilante killings.

Reuters contributed to this article.