Manila, March 26 -- The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday announced that 254 New People's Army (NPA) rebels and their supporters have been "neutralized" from Jan. 1 to March 20 this year.

In an interview with PTV-4's "Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon", AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said that of this number, 210 voluntarily surrendered to government security troops.

"Neutralize" is a military term that refers to the taking of out of action, either through surrender, capture or in military encounters of NPA and local terrorist group members.

While not giving specific details on how the other 44 rebels were "neutralized", Padilla said the high number of surrenderers indicates the thinning of the NPA ranks.

The m...