Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte apologized Sunday to Jewish community following his remarks that he would be happy to slaughter drug addicts in the country as what Adolf Hitler did to millions of Jews.

Duterte said at the opening of a festival in central Philippine city of Bacolod that he never intended to derogate the memory of those killed during the Holocaust.

"I would like to make it clear now, here and now, that there was never an intention on my part to derogate the memory of 6 million Jews murdered," he said.

"I apologize profoundly and deeply to the Jewish community ... It was never my intention (to offend the Jewish community)," he said.

The president's remarks about Hitler and the Jews sparked international censure.

Duterte reiterated his criticism of the United States and others for being critical of his anti-drug campaign and for alleging that some suspected extrajudicial killings were state-sanctioned. Endit

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