MANILA - Malacañang on Friday said President Rodrigo Duterte’s comment saying that the Philippines is better off being led by dictator like the late President Ferdinand Marcos is just a personal belief.

• Duterte: PH better off 'choosing a dictator' like Marcos

Duterte on Thursday night said Vice President Leni Robredo cannot lead the country and that the government should be run by a dictator like Marcos in order to see the country free from the shackles of corruption and illegal drugs.

“That’s just a personal belief ni president na almost anyone can be better than the vice-president,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace briefing.

Roque said Duterte’s comments against Robredo should have no effect to the pending electoral protest filed by losing vice-presidential bet, former senator Bongbong Marcos, the only son and namesake of the late dictator.

“The PET (Presidential Electoral Tribunal) is conducting revisions of the ballot so it is the ballots that will be speaking and not the justices individually,” he said.

Duterte has thought of stepping down as he complained of exhaustion and difficulties in solving the country’s drug and corruption problems.

He, however, said he was not willing to relinquish his post to Robredo, who is mandated by the Constitution to take his place in case he steps down.

The President has made no secret his admiration for Marcos, a known friend of his family. Duterte's father Vicente served under Marcos' pre-martial law cabinet.

Malacañang even said the President might step down if the late strongman's son wins his electoral protest against Robredo.

The former senator had challenged Robredo's victory in the May 2016 polls by 263,473 votes, the closest vice-presidential race in recent history.

The late strongman had led a dictatorial regime marked by repression of free speech, human rights abuses, and plunder, among others.

The Marcos family is still facing several cases in court over alleged abuses but continues to command loyal following.

Duterte allowed the late dictator's burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in November 2016 in hurried and secret rites.

His administration has also moved to abolish the Presidential Commission on Good Government, an agency tasked to recover the Marcos' ill-gotten wealth.