President Duterte humbly apologized for hitler remarks

President Duterte humbly apologized for his comment that likened Adolf Hitler's killing of Jews during the Holocaust to his war on drugs.

"There was never any intention on my part to derogate the memory of the six million Jews murdered by Germans," he told the crowd at the opening of the Masskara Festival in Bacolod City on Sunday.

Duterte's latest controversial remark earned international headlines and criticism from human rights groups.

Jewish and human rights groups called on Duterte to clarify his comments and issue an apology.

"I apologize profoundly and deeply to the Jewish community," Duterte said.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella had earlier issued apology on behalf of Duterte.In a statement, he said the Hitler reference was an "oblique deflection of the way the President has been pictured as a mass murderer, a Hitler, a label he rejects."