MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker from the Liberal Party apologized after he and other members of the erstwhile ruling party drew flak for posing at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, a place of remembrance for murdered Jews.
Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, who posted the photo but eventually took it down, issued his apology late Monday.
“We, as human rights advocates, fully understand the plight experienced by Jews under the Nazis and we would be the last to disrespect their memory in the same way that we condemn injustice anywhere in the world, including our own country,” he said on Twitter.
The legislator added: “I apologize for this lapse in my post.”
We, as human rights advocates, fully understand the plight experienced by Jews under the Nazis and we would be the last to disrespect their memory, in the same way that we condemn injustice anywhere in the world, including our own country. I apologize for this lapse in my post.
— Teddy B. Baguilat (@TeddyBaguilatJr) April 16, 2018
In his reply to one of the netizens, Baguilat expressed regret that he did not ask for the proper disposition when the group visited the Holocaust Memorial.
“But we didn’t laugh or clown around,” he said.
Netizens called out the LP members, including Vice President Leni Robredo, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, for being “insensitive,” “disrespectful,” and “stupid” after a photo of them happily posing at the memorial honoring the Jewish victims of Holocaust was posted.
Other officials seen in the photo were Rep. Jose Christopher Belmonte (Quezon City, 6th District), Rep. Miro Quimbo (Marikina City), Rep. Jorge Banal (Quezon City, 3rd District), Rep. Kaka Bag-ao (Dinagat) and former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.
In 2017, Jewish artist Shahak Shapira created a project called Yolocaust to highlight the inappropriateness of taking frivolous photos at the memorial.
READ: Ifugao rep tweets, deletes LP officials' Berlin Holocaust Memorial photo
Outrage over EJKs
Baguilat, who is critical of the government’s brutal war on drugs, is hoping that the incident would also make Filipinos react angrily over the spate of extrajudicial killings in the country.
“I hope this will make others express their outrage over the EJKs. The bloodstains on the streets are their memorial,” he said.
The solon noted that EJK victims, slain journalists, environmental advocates and tribal leaders all went through their “own Holocaust.”
“Every time we dismiss this as ‘the new normal,’ every time we stay silent, we lose our sense of humanity too,” Baguilat said.
In 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte was also under fire when he compared his anti-drug campaign to the Holocaust.
“[Adolf] Hitler massacred three million Jews... There’s three million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” he said. The Nazi leader actually massacred around six million Jews, as well as other minorities.
READ: Duterte decries Hitler comparison