SO IT SEEMS
Florencio Ranido
President Rodrigo Duterte’s virtual like-ning himself to Nazi lea-der and German dic-tator Adolf Hitler trig-gered shock not only in the Philip-pines but also in other parts ot the world, including the United States.
The mere mention of the name of Hitler since after the end of the Second World War elicits scorn to a long-departed country leader not only for starting the Second World War in Europe but more despi-cably for the killing of three million Jews in the Holocaust in the few years before the outbreak of WWII.
In a rambling speech on his return from a two-day visit to Vietnam. Duterte said he would “be happy” to exterminate three million illegal drug users and peddlers in the country.
“There are three million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I’d be happy to slaughter them,” he said, adding “If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have…” pausing and pointing to himself.
In the headline of the its issue over the weekend (Saturday, October l), a major Manila daily news-paper, yes, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, blared “Heil Digong.”
Curious, I looked for the meaning of the term in the dictionary. There is no word “heil” in the Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. My guess is the Inquirer created and used that word to stress that it is “hell” for Filipinos to have a Hitler in the making in their midst in the person of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
In several countries in the world, especially in the United States, Duterte’s comparing drug addicts in the Philippines to Jews or Israelites living in Germany and other parts Europe before the Second World War drew shock and among Jewish groups.
The Anti-Democratic League based in the US condemned Duterte for his comments, saying they are “shocking for their tone-deafness.”
On the other hand, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, head of the Simon Wiesen-thal Center’s Digital Terrorism Hate project, said “(Mr.) Duterte owes the victims (of the Holo-caust) an apology for his disgusting rhetoric.”
Here in the Philip-pines, Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago said, “Mr. President, comparing yourself with Hitler is troubling, to say the least. You are talking about committing genocide.”
To many people around the world, espe-cially those of Jewish origin, Hitler was a mons-ter with no respect for the lives of millions innocent people. So, to be referred to as Hitler is abominable.
For his part, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, asked if Duterte is “im-plying that it’s open season now for (drug) addicts, no more rehab, just kill them systematically just like what the Nazis did with the Jews.”
The problem with Digong is he has the penchant to jumping to conclusions when talking in public about a particular matter or issue. On a number of cases, he named certain politicians and high-ranking police officers as being involved in the drug trade for which he later admitted they were mistakes and made a public apologize for the errors.
Just a few days ago, Duterte apologized to former Pangasinan gover-nor and now Rep. Amado Espino for mistakenly including him in the drug matrix in the New Bilibid Prison.
A number of public officials and police officers he had denounced in public for their alleged involvement in drugs are either no longer in office, out of service, or already dead.
As an admirer of his father, the late governor (of the still undivided province of Davao) Vi-cente “Tete” Duterte, and late mother. long-time teacher Soledad Roa-Duterte, we humbly cau-tion President Digong to be careful in what he says in public. As head of state, whatever he says in public is generally construed as an official statement or the official stand of Malaca-ñang on a certain issue or matter of public interest.
Recently, in a speech before police officers in Cagayan de Oro City, Duterte said, in responding to criticisms, “Do not complain about my mouth. My mouth is my asset. My mouth is my weakness. It is also my strength. I am just a small town mayor. My mouth is rural. I never took a course on statesmanship, and I don’t intend to be one.”
As a Davaoeño by choice for more than five decades, we disagree with Duterte’s statement that he was mayor of just a small town (emphasis ours). Truth to tell, Davao City where he grew up, served in public for more than three decades— three years as govern-ment prosecutor, five years as vice mayor, three years as congressman and…hold your breath…21 years as mayor—is the biggest city in the world in point of land area.
For the record, there are five universities and more than 10 colleges in Davao City. More than a dozen malls and big shopping centers are operating in the city’s town area and in the suburbs, not to mention about 10 world-class hotels in downtown and in the immediate environs.
As one who was born and grew up in a rural community, we disagree with Duterte’s somewhat disparaging description of rural folks. Many indivi-duals who have rural be-ginnings are big names in politics, various profes-sions and business.
And don’t forget, the late US President Abra-ham Lincoln was born in a log cabin.
Modesty aside, the rural village where I first saw the light of day and grew up has consistently been declared a model barangay in the island province of Camiguin made up of five munici-palities and 58 barangays.
In the barangay of my birth with a population of just a little over one thousand there are scores of college degree holders in various fields of profes-sion—lawyers, engineers, pharmacists, nurses, seamen, teachers and a single doctor of medicine. Most of the degree holders in my birthplace are tea-chers owing to the rela-tively low cost of taking up a course in education in college.
The high cost of sending a son or daughter to a medical school in a big city explains why my birthplace has produced only one medical doctor up to the present.
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