Manila  - Kidnappers of an Irish Catholic priest in the southern Philippines have opened up negotiations for the ailing hostage's release, a spokesman for a Catholic diocese said Tuesday.

Father Michael Sinnott, 79, was abducted on October 11 by six gunmen who barged into the Columban House in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province, 890 kilometres south of Manila.

Father Gilbert Hingone, a spokesman for the Pagadian City diocese, said "little progress" was made on Monday when kidnappers "opened the door for negotiations" for Sinnott's release.

"The negotiation is somehow starting to progress," he said. "There's no mention of cash demands. We hope that in the next three days, negotiations will progress and Father Sinnott would be freed."

Hingone said the Pagadian City diocese has sent medicine for Sinnott through an emissary, but it has not yet received information about whether the package was received.

He denied rumours that Sinnott, who underwent quadruple heart bypass in 2005, has died.

"Based on the reports from different sources, Father Sinnott is alive but he's getting weaker," he said.

Hingone declined to identify the kidnappers, who allegedly have ties with a notorious pirate, according to the military.

Last Friday, the Pagadian City government offered cash rewards of 4,300 dollars for information that would lead to Sinnott's safe release and proof he was alive.

Sinnott was first assigned in the southern region of Mindanao in 1957, but left the country in 1966. He returned in 1976 and in 1998 he established a school for special children in Pagadian City. (dpa)