(VOVworld) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte apologized "profoundly and deeply" to the Jewish community on Sunday after referring his war on drugs to Adolf Hitler’s Holocaust.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte apologized to the Jewish community (Source: AFP/VNA)

Duterte said live on television that he recognized his comments made on Friday had caused outrage among Jewish communities around the world, but he insisted his mention of the Holocaust was a response to critics that portrayed him as Hitler. Duterte claimed that there was never an intention on his part to derogate the memory of the six million Jews murdered and expressed his profound and deep apology to the Jewish community.