Manila  - Muslim militants abandoned a farm worker they abducted during a raid on southern Philippine village as troops closed in on them, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

Government security forces found the hostage, Hernald Jace Delos Chavez, in the jungles of Al-Barkah town in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila, on Monday evening.

Captain Neil Estrella said Abu Sayyaf rebels left Chavez behind as they fled government troops closing in on their hideout.

Manila - The Philippine military has tightened a security cordon around Muslim militants holding captive an Italian Red Cross worker, officials said Monday.

Italian Eugenio Vagni, 62, was one of three Red Cross workers kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf rebels on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, on January 15. He is reportedly suffering from a hernia injury.

The rebels have freed Vagni's two colleagues, Swiss Andreas Notter on April 17 and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba on April 2.

Manila  - Five suspected kidnappers were killed in a shootout when police raided their hideout to rescue a 23-year-old victim in a northern Philippine city, police said Monday.

The hostage was unharmed in the firefight on Sunday evening in Urdaneta City in Pangasinan province, 165 kilometres north of Manila, Superintendent Wilson Lopez said.

Lopez, operations chief of the provincial police, said commandos swooped down the suspects' safe house after receiving information that the hostage was being held there.

Manila - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Friday that it approved a total of 10.5 billion dollars in loans in 2008, the highest in its 42-year history.

The Manila-based bank said the rise in loans reflected the region's ever-increasing demand for assistance to deal with the impact of the global economic crisis.

Manila- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has urged Myanmar's ruling junta to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi next month to boost reconciliation efforts, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

Arroyo made the appeal during a meeting with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein on the sidelines of the 14th Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Pattaya, Thailand, on April 10, the department said in a statement.