MANILA - Malacañang declined Wednesday to interpret President Duterte's pronouncement that American businesses worried with his anti-crime war can always "pack up and leave" the Philippines.

"We have no documentary basis, but if he indeed said that in the transcript of the Presidential Communications Team - President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, we don't want to rush to interpret that again," Presidential Communications Secretary Ana Marie Banaag told radio DZMM.

"We'll wait for official statement on the matter," she added.

Duterte on Tuesday said the Philippines will recover and survive even if American investors worried about his statements should pull out of the country.

"E di magsilayas kayo. Magtiis kami [Go ahead, pack your bags. We will sacrifice]. We will recover, I assure you. We will live and survive. We have gone through the worst times in this planet," he said in a speech before leaving for his official visit to Japan.

Banaag said the official clarification on Duterte's statement will probably come from the President himself or from Cabinet officials who directly deal with foreign investors, when their entourage returns from Japan.

Nevertheless, Banaag sought to assure the public that Duterte's statements are no cause for concern.

"'Wag po tayong mabahala kasi kaakibat po niyan ay pagmamalakasakit. Sana doon po sa ginagawa niya, magtiwala tayo na may gusto siyang gawin sa ating bansa," she said. [Let us not worry because his statements are coupled with compassion. May we learn to trust in what he wants to do for our country.]

Last week in Beijing, Duterte announced his "separation" from the US, which earlier expressed concern over the piling body count in his war on drugs. He later clarified that Manila's 70-year alliance with the superpower stands.

But he also sustained his anti-US rhetoric, saying Tuesday that he was not an American "lapdog" and threatening anew to scrap a mutual defense treaty with Washington.