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."

The three officers were captured by the rebels in an ambush in Rizal's Rodriguez town January 3.

The three captives were unharmed and appeared to be in good health.

Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia. (dpa)