Imelda Bautista Schweighart, who is competing for the Miss Earth 2016 crown, caused outrage in the Philippines by denouncing ‘The Punisher’s’ war on drugs.
‘Oh my God, our president is doing Hitler stuff here in the Philippines,’ the 21-year-old student said in a Facebook Live video chat.
The Miss Philippines Earth 2016 delegate started an awkward exchange with her Austrian counterpart, Kimberly Budinsky, by asking about the Nazi German chancellor.
‘Is Hitler from Austria?,’ she asked.
Budinsky responded uncomfortably.
‘That’s a bad question because we normally don’t really talk about Hitler. But yes, he is,’ she said.
Schweighart then compounded the tension by likening President Duterte to the Nazi leader, who orchestrated the death of six million Jews in the Holocaust.
‘Oh my God, our president is doing Hitler stuff here in the Philippines,’ Schweighart said.
The Miss Earth 2016 Facebook has been deluged with complaints, mainly from the Philippines.
On Tuesday, Schweighart apologised for the controversy she had caused in an appearance with Budinsky.
‘I support Duterte in all of his endeavors,’ Philippines news website Rappler reported her saying.
‘And I hope you find forgiveness in your hearts because I didn’t mean it.
‘I didn’t mean it in a bad way.
‘Sorry. I just see headlines and I just said it. I didn’t mean it to be like this. I’m sorry.’
Schweighart also took to Facebook to explain why she invoked Hitler, despite supporting Duterte’s policy of encouraging citizens to kill drug addicts.
‘I am half German that is the reason why I talked to a fellow delegate about “Hitler” so casually who is Austrian,’ she said.
‘I am always teased by fellow Filipinos as “Hitler” because they are not well informed that Hitler was not German. In fact Hitler was Austrian.’
Schweighart’s original video comments, likening Duterte to Hitler, were viewed more than 400,000 times before they were taken down from her Facebook page.
In late September, President Duterte himself likened his crusade against drug users and dealers to Hitler.
‘There are 3 million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I’d be happy to slaughter them,’ he said. — dailymail.co.uk