Zamboanga City, Philippines - An Italian staffer of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) abducted by Muslim militants in the southern Philippine was able to get his medicine to treat his high blood pressure, a government statement said Saturday.

Eugenio Vagni received his medicine from a government emissary who visited the kidnappers' lair on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, it said.

Vagni along with fellow Red Cross personnel Andreas Notter of Switzerland and Mary Jean Lacaba of the Philippines was kidnapped January 15 by separatist rebels shortly after visiting the Sulu provincial jail.

Sulu Vice Governor Lady Anne Sahidullah, who first visited the hostages in the jungles of Jolo Wednesday, said Vagni received the medicine for his hypertension.

"She confirmed that the victims were able to receive the books, medicines and other personal effects," according to a Task Force ICRC statement.

The Task Force ICRC is a government interagency committee that is overseeing efforts to free the three hostages.

Police said gunmen led by a sacked jail guard seized the three Red Cross staff and then turned them over to al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels in the jungles of Indanan town.

According to military intelligence sources, Abu Sayyaf commanders Albader Parad and Akmad Jumdail were leading a group of about 30 men in holding the hostages.

The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines.

It is also notorious for high-profile kidnap-for-ransom cases, including the abduction of 21 European tourists and Asian workers from a Malaysian resort island in 2000. The hostages were ransomed for millions of dollars before they were freed months later. (dpa)