MANILA-- Malacanang urged the public on Thursday to trust President Rodrigo Duterte on his war on drugs, even after he admitted to errors in his list of government officials who were allegedly on the take.

More than trusting the drug list itself, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said Filipinos should trust Duterte.

"He (Duterte) has publicly said 'I made a mistake, I apologize. I'm sorry.' The one that we trust is not so much the list but the President himself who has the actual humility to accept that he made a mistake," Abella said.

Duterte apologized this week for including former Pangasinan governor Amado Espino and two others in his drug list.

The President took office on June 30 with the promise to destroy the illegal drug trade and save the Philippines from becoming a narco-state. According to data from the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group, 1,807 drug suspects have been killed since May 10 when Duterte's election mandate became clear.