MANILA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Local media "maliciously" misquoted Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and reported that the president had linked the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines to a "suspected drug pusher," according to a presidential spokesman.

Spokesman Harry Roque said Friday the local media wrongly and maliciously reported that Duterte had linked Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua to a wealthy Chinese Filipino businessman called Michael Yang. The local media reported that Duterte had said Yang "was a suspected drug pusher."

The erroneous reporting was based on Duterte's speech on Thursday night before the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association, when the president said in Filipino that Yang could not have been involved in illegal drugs.

The reports are "wrong, false, and even malicious," Roque said.

"I think it's very clear that what the president meant to say was that ... he cannot believe that Michael Yang is involved in the drug trade," Roque said, adding "the report that linked the Chinese ambassador to a drug lord is obviously false."

"It is also very dangerous because it could possibly endanger the bilateral relations between the Philippines and China," Roque added.

The spokesman urged the local media "to be responsible" and to do the profession of journalism "a favor" by issuing the corresponding errata and to correct the story.

The local media corrected their stories on Friday after Roque called a briefing specifically on the issue.