MANILA (UPDATED) - President-elect Rodrigo Duterte's recent comments on media killings which have angered groups of journalists were "taken out of context," the Davao City mayor's spokespersons said Wednesday.

"Again and as usual, Rody Duterte was taken out of context, misinterpreted and misunderstood," Peter Laviña said in a statement.

During a press conference in Davao City Tuesday evening, Duterte was asked how his administration plans to solve media killings, which remain rampant in the country.

Duterte said many journalists in the Philippines are killed for being corrupt, adding that the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press cannot protect a journalist especially if he is a "son of a b****."

"Kaya namamatay kasi karamihan diyan nabayaran na. They take sides or sobrahan ang atake, getting personal," Duterte claimed.

"Just because you are a journalist you are exempted from assassination... [the right to] Freedom of expression cannot help you if you have done something wrong," Duterte said.

READ: Duterte: Journalists are killed for being corrupt

Laviña, however, stressed that Duterte's comments were only based on his own assessment of journalists killed in his turf, one of whom was Jun Pala, a hard-hitting critic who was killed in 2003, "and not on the national scale."

"Certainly, Duterte has no personal knowledge on each and every single case of media killings in many parts of the country," he said.

"When Duterte said last night that members of the media become vulnerable to killings, it was because they were no longer seen as fair and neutral members of the media but because they have become partisan propagandists, deliberately using their media outlets in attacking or defending one party or another and collecting pay offs on both," he added.

NOT ENDORSING VIOLENCE

Salvador Panelo added: "I did not think there was a mistake. I heard what he said last night. I was there. Walang mali sa sinabi niya. Sinasabi lang na ang personal knowledge of the case at saka ang logic na not because you're a journalist eh pinatay ka na dahil journalist ka."

Panelo also sought to clarify that Duterte is not endorsing violence against members of the media.

"He is not endorsing that. He's very protective of the rights of the journalists to express their opinion regardless of whether or not it is in opposition with the policy he makes," Panelo said.

Laviña stressed that Duterte himself has already said that he would create a task force to address media killings and ask for a special prosecutor to focus on these cases.

Laviña added that the remarks of Duterte, who has repeatedly vowed to curb corruption in the country, should have been instead seen as a reminder that corruption and shady deals also exist in the media industry.

"He has seen this during the recent election when headlines, for instance, were being bumped off to give way to paid black propaganda masquerading as news items. Hence, he said you really want the truth? Well that's the truth," Laviña said.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has called it "appalling" that Duterte justifies the murder of members of the media "by playing the corruption card."

While NUJP does not dismiss the idea that corruption may be behind several of the media killings, the organization maintained that "it is one thing to recognize a possible reason for murder; it is a totally different thing to present this as a justification for taking life."

"Murder is no joke. Neither is press freedom," the group emphasized.

READ: NUJP: Duterte needs to be briefed on media killings

DOES DUTERTE NEED COACHING?

With Duterte again being castigated for a particular statement, Panelo was asked if the people behind the president-elect is now feeling the need to coach the soon-to-be chief executive.

"He is his own person," Panelo said.

"He doesn't need to be pointed out that he has committed a mistake. He discerns himself and when he realizes that his statement has been taken out of context, he explains it. If for instance, he was misquoted, he clarifies it."

Panelo added he is also there to clarify statements coming from the president-elect.

"In the event there is doubt as to the effect of what he said, that would be my job as presidential spokesperson to clarify, but not go beyond what he said, not deviate, but to expound in the context it was stated or delivered by him," he said.

This does not mean, however, that he would "sanitize" Duterte's statements.

"There is nothing to sanitize, but only the necessity to explain in context what statement has been made," he said.