Negotiations are underway to win the release of a Chinese engineer and a Filipino guide held captive by Muslim gunmen in the southern Philippines, armed forces chief General Diomedio Villanueva confirmed on Monday.
But the talks were initiated by a private group and have not been sanctioned by the government, which maintains a strict "no ransom policy," Villanueva said.
"There are some lateral moves that we are noticing, although the armed forces of the Philippines is not part of the negotiations," he told DZRH radio.
"Our job is to maintain pressure (against the kidnappers) and we cannot be part of the negotiations."
The remaining captives, Zhang Shongyi and Filipino Edward Lim, were among four workers of a foreign-funded irrigation project kidnapped by the offshoot Pentagon kidnap gang in southern Mindanao island.
Two of the captives were killed, gunned down when they tried to escape during a military rescue attempt last month, while a third was recovered.
President Gloria Arroyo has met with the victims' relatives as well as Chinese embassy officials to assure them the remaining captives would be safely recovered.
Asked to comment on reports that a local business community was offering ransom for the hostages, Villanueva said: "What I know is is that it was not launched by the government of President Arroyo. It's a private enterprise. We are not part of it, not even the government is party to it."
The Philippine Star on Monday reported that the government was working for the immediate release of the captives ahead of a major business conference in the south later this month.
The conference aims to gather foreign and local businessmen and sell the violence-torn southern Philippines as a good investment site.
Another rebel group, the Abu Sayyaf, hold captive US Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and 16 Filipinos on nearby Basilan island.
(chinadaily.com.cn 09/10/2001)
