MANILA, June 18 (Reuters) - Islamic militants released two Philippine journalists and their guide after holding them for more than a week on a remote southern island, police and the journalists' employer said on Wednesday. Those released by the Abu Sayyaf group were Ces Drilon -- one of the country's best known television journalists -- cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and a professor, Octavio Dinampo, who was acting as their guide when they were abducted on June 8. Another cameraman, Angelo Valderama, who was kidnapped with the group, was released last week. "Ces, Jimmy, and Angelo are finally all free," ABS-CBN, the Philippines' largest TV network, said in a statement. "We cannot wait to bring them home." Drilon, Encarnacion and Dinampo were released before midnight on Tuesday on Jolo, an island around 600 miles (950 km) south of Manila. ABS-CBN did not mention a ransom. The Abu Sayyaf, which is infamous for beheading some of its victims, had demanded a 15 million pesos ($338,000) ransom. A local senator who took part in the negotiations for their release told local radio the captors had threatened to decapitate Encarnacion. The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 350 members and relies on ransoms to fund its operations, has made Jolo a no-go area for foreigners. In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, the Philippines' military chief said the prospect of a big ransom from the high-profile snatching of Drilon might encourage more people to join the group, which operates in a very poor part of the archipelago. "There may be some who may join on a contractual basis if maybe the price is right," General Alexander Yano said. "But they are not the ones who are the core elements." In 2000, the group held about 20 people, mostly Western tourists and Malaysian resort workers from nearby Sipadan island, for about three months. They freed them only after more than $10 million was paid for their release. A year later, three Americans and more than a dozen Filipino tourists and resort workers were taken from the western island of Palawan. Two of the Americans were killed, including one who was beheaded, while most of the rest were freed for ransom. The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for the worst militant attack in the Philippines, the bombing of a ferry near Manila Bay in 2004 that killed more than 100 people. Since 2002, U.S. military forces have been helping train and advise local troops to fight the group, pouring about $500 million into combat equipment and development projects to help turn Muslim communities against the radicals. Last year, the group decapitated seven labourers and sent their heads in sacks to army bases in retaliation for the military killing over 70 of its members, including two top leaders, in an eight-month ground offensive. (Reporting by Carmel Crimmins and Manny Mogato; Editing by Matthew Jones)
A boy walks past rice for sale at a market in Manila April 24, 2008. Philippines will take almost all the rice offered in a tender last week that fell one-third ...
