Zamboanga City, Philippines  - The Philippines succumbed on Saturday to the demand of Muslim militants holding captive three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) personnel and agreed to pull out troops near the area where hostages were being held.

The Abu Sayyaf rebels have given the government until the end of the month to pull out troops surrounding the redoubt in Indanan town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, or said they would behead one of the hostages.

Zamboanga City, Philippines  - One of six schoolteachers seized by Islamic militants in the southern Philippines has died in captivity, a provincial police chief said Saturday.

Senior Superintendent Federico Castro said Noemi Mandi, 34, died six days ago in the lair of Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila.

Manila  - At least 12 people were killed Saturday when a passenger minibus collided with a cargo truck in the central Philippines, a local official said.

Ten more were injured in the collision at dawn on a highway in Naga town in Cebu province, 585 kilometres south of Manila, Mayor Valdemar Chiong said.

Investigators said the minibus was racing with another vehicle and encroached on the opposite lane. Its driver apparently did not see the approaching cargo truck.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Seven soldiers and 20 Muslim rebels were killed in a clash in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said Saturday.

The fighting erupted at dawn Friday when patrolling troops encountered about 80 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said.

Ponce said five soldiers were wounded in the fighting, which lasted for more than eight hours.

Manila  - Three Muslim separatist rebels and a government militiaman were killed in a clash in a southern Philippine province, an army spokesman said Friday.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said the firefight erupted when Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas opened fire at patrolling militiamen in Kalamansig town in Sultan Kudarat province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, on Thursday.

The 30-minute firefight resulted in the death of three MILF rebels and a militiaman, Ponce said.

Manila  - Communist rebels on Friday freed three police officers after almost three months in captivity in a province just outside the Philippine capital.

The rebels released the captive policemen - Inspector Rex Cuntapay and police officers Alberto Umali and Marvin Agesan - to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the hinterlands of Rizal province, 35 kilometres east of Manila.

The guerrillas said in a statement that they freed the three captives as a "goodwill and humanitarian gesture."