By Argyll Cyrus Geducos
JERUSALEM, Israel -- 'Never again.'
President Duterte expressed hope that a tragedy like the Holocaust will not happen again as he wondered how an entire nation obeys an "insane leader" into killing an entire race.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, stands next to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during their meeting in Jerusalem on Monday, Sept. 3, 2018. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool Photo via AP) (MANILA BULLETIN)
Duterte made the statement during his historic visit to the Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial for victims of the Holocaust, in Jerusalem Monday afternoon (Israel time).
In his signed dedication in the guest book at the memorial site's Children's Hall, Duterte said he is hoping that people's heart will remain open.
"Never again," Duterte, who was once criticized for liking himself to German leader Adolf Hitler, strongly said.
"May the world learn the lessons of this horrific and benighted period of human history. May the hearts of peoples around the world remain ever open," he added.
"And may the minds of all men and women learn to work together towards providing a safe haven for all who are being persecuted," he continued.
Duterte, in his visit to Yad Vashem's Hall of Names with daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, called Hitler insane and expressed wonder how one country can follow such an insane leader.
"Me, I realized that war is insanity. And what happened here, in Europe especially under the Nazi," he said.
"I could not imagine of a country obey an insane leader. And I could not even fathom the spectacle of a human being going into a killing spree, murdering old men, women, men, children, mother," he added.
Duterte said he is hoping that a tragedy like the Holocaust will not happen again and suggested that leaders who show signs of insanity should be disposed of immediately.
"I hope that this will not happen again. But we are a world whose — now... We have learned so much along the years during the two wars. There is always a lesson to be learned and that despots and leaders who show insanity should be — well they should be disposed of at the first instance," he said.
Duterte assured that the Philippines will be the first to speak loudly against a genocide that would stem from hatred.
"I would like to say that we are one in saying that it will not happen again and my country will be the first to voice such I said a massacre of a race just because of hate," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, stands next to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during their meeting in Jerusalem on Monday, Sept. 3, 2018. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool Photo via AP) (MANILA BULLETIN)
Duterte made the statement during his historic visit to the Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial for victims of the Holocaust, in Jerusalem Monday afternoon (Israel time).
In his signed dedication in the guest book at the memorial site's Children's Hall, Duterte said he is hoping that people's heart will remain open.
"Never again," Duterte, who was once criticized for liking himself to German leader Adolf Hitler, strongly said.
"May the world learn the lessons of this horrific and benighted period of human history. May the hearts of peoples around the world remain ever open," he added.
"And may the minds of all men and women learn to work together towards providing a safe haven for all who are being persecuted," he continued.
Duterte, in his visit to Yad Vashem's Hall of Names with daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, called Hitler insane and expressed wonder how one country can follow such an insane leader.
"Me, I realized that war is insanity. And what happened here, in Europe especially under the Nazi," he said.
"I could not imagine of a country obey an insane leader. And I could not even fathom the spectacle of a human being going into a killing spree, murdering old men, women, men, children, mother," he added.
Duterte said he is hoping that a tragedy like the Holocaust will not happen again and suggested that leaders who show signs of insanity should be disposed of immediately.
"I hope that this will not happen again. But we are a world whose — now... We have learned so much along the years during the two wars. There is always a lesson to be learned and that despots and leaders who show insanity should be — well they should be disposed of at the first instance," he said.
Duterte assured that the Philippines will be the first to speak loudly against a genocide that would stem from hatred.
"I would like to say that we are one in saying that it will not happen again and my country will be the first to voice such I said a massacre of a race just because of hate," he said.
The Yad Vashem's Hall of Names is Israel's memorial to each and every Jew who perished at the Holocaust.
Aside from his daughter, Duterte was also joined in the tour by top Cabinet officials including Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea among others.
Duterte, joined by his daughter, then laid a wreath at the Children's Memorial Hall. The venue is a tribute to the approximately 1.5 million Jewish children who were murdered during the Holocaust. The names of the children, their ages, and countries of origin can be heard in the background.
The Holocaust was a state-sponsored persecution and murder of around 6 million Jews by the Nazis who came to power in Germany in January 1933. The Nazis thought that Germans were the superior race and that the Jews, whom they thought were the inferior race, were the priority danger to Germany.
With Israel, the Philippines is celebrating the 81st anniversary of the Open Doors policy of the Philippines under then President Manuel L. Quezon who offered shelter to more than a thousand Jews escaping the holocaust in Europe.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his meeting with Duterte Monday morning (Israel time), said Israel remembers the Philippines' exceptional role of accepting Jewish refugees during the Holocaust.
According to Philippine Ambassador to Israel Nathaniel Imperial, the Philippine embassy and the Israeli government actually in 2009 dedicated the Open Doors monument in the city of Rishon Lezion to commemorate the humanitarian assistance extended to the around 1,300 Jewish refugees in the 1930s.
Duterte's visit came two years after he attracted criticisms when he compared himself to Hitler, saying he would be happy to kill 3 million addicts like what the Nazi leader did to Jews.
"Hitler massacred 3 million Jews. There are 3 million drug addicts. I'd be happy to slaughter them," Duterte said in a press conference in September 2016.
"At least, if Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have you know," he added, referring to himself.
After drawing controversy, Duterte later apologized to the Jews, saying he never intended to devalue the memory of the Holocaust victims.
"Nag-react ang Jewish community all over the world (The Jewish community all over the world reacted). I would like to make it now, here and now, that there was never an intention on my part to derogate the memory of 6 million Jews murdered by the Germans," he said in October.
"They do not really want you to tinker with the memory. Alam natin 'yan (We know that). So I apologize profoundly and deeply to the Jewish community," he added.