Julia Christine Botin

Article (news)

David Dizon

ABS-CBN News

<p>Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio debunked Friday Duterte defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman’s explanation that the word “neutralize” in police memos during the war on drugs does not mean kill.</p><p>“Yung neutralization, common term yan sa military at police, neutralize. Ang understanding ‘yan, kill. At saka you have to take that in the context of also what former President Duterte has been saying publicly at the time,” he said in a DZMM interview.</p><p>“Neutralize, alam yan ng mga operatives, ng mga police and military, that means patayin. Pag gusto mo sabihin na arrest, arrest na. Sa military and police term, pag neutralize, patayin.”</p><p>“Papasok sila sa bahay, papatayin na lang. That is how it was understood by President Duterte dahil sabi niya kill, kill, kill. Sa dokumento, neutralize. Pero sa operation, patay ang labas.”</p><p>Carpio pointed out that the Philippine National Police’s own report in 2017 showed 20,000 dead, many of whom were killed by riding in tandem gunmen.</p><p>He also said Duterte’s comment could not be passed off as a joke since he repeated the same during sworn testimony before the House of Representatives and Senate. This testimony could be submitted later to the International Criminal Court as additional evidence, he said.</p><p>“You just report exactly what the former president stated on camera at the Senate hearing and House hearing. Yan lang, i-report mo. Inamin niya lahat.”</p><p>“Ako ang responsible legally. I ordered the killing. Ano pang masabi mo? What else can you say? Inamin niya. Under oath.”</p><p>Kaufman, former President Rodrigo Duterte’s lawyer, earlier told the International Criminal Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I that “neutralization” in the government’s “war on drugs” only meant <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/26/kaufman-neutralize-in-duterte-drug-war-only-meant-arrest-and-subdue-2006">subduing suspects</a>, not killing them.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bynBINpl0yo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Citing Philippine National Police Command Memorandum Circular 16-2016 on the anti-narcotics campaign, the PNP operations manual , as well as court documents on the term, he said &quot;neutralization can only mean the use of self-defense when officers’ lives are in danger.&quot;</p><p>He said that government documents on the &quot;drug war&quot; show that there is a &quot;coherent and consistent understanding that neutralization… is incapacitation…not a policy of killing.&quot;</p><p>He also said that statements by Duterte and his alleged co-perpetrators like then PNP chief Ronald &quot;Bato&quot; dela Rosa and then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II were disparaging of alleged drug personalities but &quot;do not indicate a meeting of the minds&quot; for what the prosecution alleges was a &quot;common plan&quot; to kill them off.</p><p>Law enforcement agencies said the thousands who were killed in anti-drug operations during the Duterte presidency had violently resisted arrest.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bSy9hMixJSY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-fa8QaXYq7g?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9crX6E8kjRo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio debunked Friday Duterte defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman’s explanation that the word “neutralize” in police memos during the war on drugs does not mean kill.</p>

Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio debunked Friday Duterte defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman’s explanation that the word “neutralize” in police memos during the war on drugs does not mean kill.

'Neutralize means kill': Carpio nixes Kaufman defense of Duterte drug war policy

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'Neutralize means kill': Carpio nixes Kaufman defense of Duterte drug war policy

David Dizon,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 27, 2026 04:31 PM PHT

Read More:

antonio carpio

nicholas kaufman

international criminal court

ICC

war on drugs

neutralize

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