MANILA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The two policewomen kidnapped last month by Abu Sayyaf militants had been released, Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Albayalde said on Wednesday.
Police Officer Bennie Rose Alvarez and Police Officer Dinah Gumahad were abducted on April 29 along with two others while on their way to Jojo town from a beach in Patikul town, Sulu province of southern Philippines.
The two other hostages were freed last week.
Albayalde told reporters the regional police director in Sulu had confirmed that the two policewomen had indeed been freed.
"They are now with the personnel of (Sulu) Governor Sakur Tan," Albayalde said.
He added the freed policewomen will undergo "medical examination and debriefing."
The Philippine military, which launched a series of offensive to track down the kidnappers over the weekend, has yet to issue a statement.
Abu Sayyaf, a radical Islamist group in the Philippines, often carry out kidnappings, bombings and beheadings in western Mindanao, particularly in their lair in the island provinces of Basilan and Sulu.
