Tagum City, Philippines - Communist rebels freed on Saturday two police officers and a man who posed as a police informant they held captive for four days in the southern Philippines.

The three captives were released unharmed to Congressman Manuel Zamora in Monkayo town in Compostela Valley province, 945 kilometres south of Manila.

The guerrillas seized the three on Tuesday in a roadblock in the gold-rush area of Mount Diwalwal in Monkayo.

Roel Agustin, a rebel spokesman, said the three were released on humanitarian grounds.

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