Teddy Locsin slams Germans on Holocaust

MANILA, Philippines — Amid brewing diplomatic tension between the Philippines and Germany, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. yesterday took to Twitter to defend his social media post regarding President Duterte’s previous comparison of his deadly war on drugs to the Nazi leader’s killing of millions of Jews during the Holocaust, saying it “is a metaphor.”

“It is good to remind the Germans that while Britain can exit, they cannot from the Holocaust,” Locsin tweeted in reaction to a netizen’s tweet not to mind what he had written.

Locsin’s tweet was about the United Kingdom exiting the European Union (EU) but not Germany from the Holocaust. The UK is due to leave the EU on March 29, regardless of whether there is a deal with the EU or not.

“Never mind if it was a metaphor, Cong. Ted. You disturbed a hornet’s nest. And now flies are coming in,” a netizen said.

Another netizen said that the Germans remember their past and they condemn state-led mass killing.

“Remind the Germans? Since reunification, much has been done to commemorate the victims and policies were set in place to ensure that they do not commit the same atrocities again. The Germans remember their past that’s why they condemn the State-led mass killing happening here,” the netizen tweeted.

Locsin defended his comments on Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler’s massacre of Jews as “historical fact.” He responded during an interview with Berlin-based ARD broadcasting network journalist Arnd Henze, when asked about Duterte’s 2016 remarks in which the President appeared to compare himself to Adolf Hitler when he stated he would be “happy to slaughter” millions of drug addicts in the Philippines, like the Nazis did to millions of Jews.

“I said the same thing. I myself said the same thing before he even said it,” Locsin told Henze.

The German Foreign Ministry summoned the acting Philippine ambassador to Germany after Locsin defended Duterte’s remarks on Hitler in the interview.

Lilibeth Pono is currently the Chargé d’Affaires at the Philippine Embassy in Berlin.

German Foreign Office spokesman Rainer Breuer said his ministry had called in the Philippine envoy to discuss comments by Loscin, defending 2016 statements from Duterte concerning Hitler.

In a statement on Thursday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said ARD’s story on Locsin’s remarks was “incomplete and misleading.”

Locsin defended Duterte’s war on drugs when he  emphasized that the United Nations should not presume to threaten states with accountability for taking a tough approach to crushing crime and illegal drugs.

Duterte, according to the foreign affairs secretary, has repeatedly said that if no one wants his rough and tough approach to fighting drugs and terror, he will resign rather than temper his methodology.

“Multilateral bodies like the UN should not presume to threaten states with accountability for taking a tough approach to crushing crime,” Locsin said in his lecture at the inauguration of the new chancery of the Philippine Embassy in Berlin on Feb. 18.