On Friday, Duterte said he would be happy to exterminate as many drug addicts as Jews killed during the Holocaust by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
"There was never any intention on my part to derogate the memory of the six million Jews murdered by Germans… I apologize profoundly and deeply to the Jewish community," Duterte told a crowd at the opening of the annual Masskara Festival, as quoted by CNN Philippines.
Duterte's remarks have also been criticized the Amnesty International watched that called them as distasteful and dangerous.
Duterte was sworn in on June 30 and immediately launched an anti-drug campaign and vowed to end criminality in the country within six months.
The United Nations and numerous human rights groups claim that his campaign had led to a surge in killings of suspected drug addicts and dealers. Duterte has previously urged citizens to shoot and kill drug dealers resisting arrest and said that the killings of drug suspects would be lawful if the police acted in self-defense.
