Palace Press Officer Claire Castro told Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday, March 24, that former President Rodrigo Duterte had already likened himself to Adolf Hitler, not the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
Castro made the remarks in a Palace briefing after Vice President Sara Duterte warned that her father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, could face a fate like the late senator if he returns to the Philippines.
“Inihahalintulad ba ni VP Sara ang kaniyang ama sa yumaong Ninoy Aquino? Parang hindi po natin nadinig noon na inihalintulad ni dating Pangulong Duterte ang sarili niya kay Ninoy kung hindi kay Hitler,” Castro said.
Castro reiterated that Duterte had openly associated himself with Hitler in the context of his controversial war on drugs, citing his controversial statement in 2016: “Hitler massacred three million (actually, supposed to be six million) Jews. Now there are three million, what is it? Three million drug addicts in the Philippines – there are. I’d be happy to slaughter them. At least if Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have me.”
“Mas ninais po ni dating Pangulong Duterte na ikumpara ang sarili niya kay Hitler,” Castro added, stressing that Aquino had no record of mass killings or crimes against humanity.
The clarification comes as former President Duterte faces trial for crimes against humanity linked to his anti-drug campaign. Arrested on March 11, 2025, at Manila’s main airport under a secret ICC warrant, Duterte is set for a pre-trial hearing in September.
Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte, speaking at an event in the Netherlands, revealed that her father had expressed a strong desire to return to the Philippines to campaign for the Davao City mayoral elections. She quoted him as saying, “Kung ganyan ang kapalaran ko, then so be it. Basta lang mauwi ako sa Pilipinas.”
The Vice President also shared her warning to her father: “Pa, sabi ko ‘yung kagustuhan mo na umuwi, iyan din ‘yung katapusan ng buhay mo, magiging Ninoy Aquino Jr. ka.”
Aquino Jr., a former senator and staunch critic of the Marcos Sr. regime, was assassinated upon his return to the Philippines in August 1983 after three years in exile. (TCSP)
