President Rodrigo Duterte's recent statement his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio could succeed him in the presidency does not mean perpetuating in power, Malacanang said on Monday.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Duterte just wants to make sure that the gains of his administration could be pursued by a person whom he trusts.

"I think you’re making a breathtaking leap by assuming that he wants power when he says that his daughter is somebody that he trusts," Abella said.

Abella said Duterte was just being "very, very pragmatic" when he mentioned the possibility of his daughter being his successor.

"It’s not a question of wanting to perpetuate power but ensuring that whatever gains he has --- whatever gains that we have made, the administration may have made will be preserved by someone that he actually trusts," Abella added.

"The issue here is that he trusts the capability of Sara. At this stage, that is his statement, okay?," he said.

He also said Sara should be considered as an independent person and not just Duterte's daughter.

"It's just like she (Sara) is an effective person and mayor and politician who happens to be his daughter," he said.

"So it’s not a question of wanting to perpetuate power. So you know, I think there’s a huge difference between the two," Abella stressed.

In several occasions, Duterte had kept on saying that her daughter could be a good president.

He had said that if Sara did not agree to run as Davao City mayor in the 2016 elections, he would not run for president.

He expressed belief that Davao is in good hands, with Sara being its mayor.

Duterte was even proud of saying in previous speeches her daughter who punched a sheriff who insisted in demolishing the informal settlers in a contested property in Davao in 2011. Celerina Monte/DMS