Following global condemnation of President Duterte’s claim to follow in Hitler’s example which forced the President to do another vague “clarification”, the new Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations is not wasting any time defending those awful words by citing that German Nazis did many things right, and asking the people to look beyond the holocaust.
Duterte clearly approved the slaughter of 3 million Jews in his address to media last week. A thousand apologies will never remedy this atrocious statement. Moreover, to recommend the extermination of suspected drug users and criminals in order to save future generations of Filipinos not only compared an entire race to criminals, but still reflected the same belief that Germany’s mass murderer espoused.
If Duterte’s words deserved the world’s denunciation, Teddy Locsin’s defense of those words deserved immediate reckoning. Locsin appeared to be the only one among the government’s spokespersons not bothered by the President’s gruesome pronouncements and threats, which Congressman Edcel Lagman described as 'criminally culpable'. He has transformed his newspaper column “Tedditorial” from an independent thinkers’ page into a Goebbels-style propaganda machine for the President. By publicly endorsing an idea which have not, are not, and never will be part of the Filipino’s beliefs, he has grossly misrepresented the country in the global community. Under any other administration past and future he would be immediately sacked.
Mr. Locsin’s actions are contemptuous to the Filipino people and its solidarity with the Jewish people against tyranny and any form of targeted exterminations. As sovereignty resides in the people we are therefore firing Mr. Locsin as UN Ambassador. iDEFEND further calls for legal actions to ban him from any government appointments henceforth.###
------------------------------------------------------------------
In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity (iDEFEND) is a grassroots movement that defends the rights and upholds the dignity of all Filipinos. It engages with the government, educate and organize the public and transform collective voices into public action. iDEFEND works towards the realization of a rights-based governance that is anchored on respect for due process and rule of law.