Manila, June 17 -- The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said a total of 709 New People's Army (NPA) communist insurgents and their allies were neutralized from Jan. 1 to June 11 this year.

"Neutralized" is a military term which refers to the surrender, capture or killing of enemy troops.

In an interview with reporters late Tuesday afternoon, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said this can be broken down into 621 surrendered, 31 arrested and 57 killed in various military operations nationwide.

In the same period, Padilla said 503 assorted firearms were either captured or surrendered along with 122 anti-personnel mines.

Also captured in the same period were 30 NPA encampments, she added.

"Beyond the numbers, ang tun...