The context and essence of President Duterte’s comparing himself to Hitler and resolving to slaughter three million drug criminals, drawing parallelisms to the Holocaust, is vivid and undeniable.

The following is the transcript of his statement: “Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now there is three million, there’s a three million drug addict. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them. At least if Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have you know (pausing and pointing to himself), my victims, I would like to be, all criminals to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition.”

Duterte’s apologists cannot again incant that the President was “quoted out of context”.

The defenders of Duterte maliciously demeaned media, both local and foreign, by accusing them of misreading the President’s clear statement.

There is a principle in law that when the language of the statute is clear, there is no need to construe.

In the same manner, when the utterance is unmistakable, there is no justification to interpret or mitigate.

What is imperative is that Duterte and his team must put their acts together by having prior consultations and discussions.

The President must avoid outlandish and provocative statements with detrimental consequences.

The mouth must be the oracle of discreet and studied statements, not ill-conceived and outrageous utterances.