MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte hosted dinner for the country’s top businessmen to clear “wrong perceptions” and lay out his plans to grow the economy and defeat illegal drug rings, one of his aides said Wednesday.

The three-hour-long dinner at the presidential palace on Tuesday was the first such meeting since Duterte assumed office in June last year and took stewardship of the economy that is among the fastest-growing in the world.

Duterte is a “different person” compared to how he is portrayed in news reports and he wanted to get that message across to businessmen, said presidential consultant for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, who organized the dinner.

Among those present were Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan, Ayala Corp. chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, SM Prime board member Hans Sy, Aboitiz Equity Ventures president Erramon Aboitiz, International Container Terminal Services Inc. chairman Enrique Razon, LT Group president Michael Tan and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president George Barcelon.

“Everyone in that room was able to clear their minds on wrong perceptions that they had with the President,” Concepcion told ANC’s “Market Edge with Cathy Yang.”

“They got to see the real President and were able to ask questions,” he added.

The discussions included Duterte’s efforts to stop illegal labor contractualization or “endo” and rewriting the constitution to shift to a federal form of government, Concepcion said.

At one point during the meeting, the President showed his guests a thick pad of paper containing details on the gravity of illegal drug operations in the country, said PCCI’s Barcelon.

“It’s really a heart-to heart talk with the President. He was very animated with the group he spoke of his concerns,” Barcelon said in a separate interview on “Market Edge.”

Barcelon said the President told his guests that he would crack down on illegal gambling after addressing the drug problem.

Duterte welcomed plans by Go Noegosyo’s “Kapatid” microentrepreneurship program to conflict-wracked Sulu province in the south, and offered military security, he said.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, who was also present, sought the business community’s support for Duterte’s plan to revamp the tax system, Concepcion said.

Also present during the meeting was former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, according to video released by Duterte’s office.