Jose Guillo, who recently escaped from the Abu Sayyaf confirmed that ransom was paid for the release of some of the captives, said a radio report that reached Manila.

Businessman Reghis Romero, for one, paid $98,039,215 (P5 million) in ransom in Basilan last June, when the group escaped from the Philippine Navy and they landed in Basilan, said Guillo.

The families of other hostages Angie Montealegre, reported girlfriend of Romero, also paid ransom, said Guillo. Even the poor family of Fe Rosadeno has already paid ransom, but the Abu Sayyaf bandits wanted to make another deal for her release, said Guillo.

Rosadeno was the Filipina friend of U.S. national Guillermo Sobero, who was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf on June 12, the country's independence day.

The Abu Sayyaf wanted to release all the hostages, including two other American nationals, Martin and Gracia Burnham, and asked for a package deal of additional $ 2 million, said Guillo.

Guillo said he heard the Abu Sayyaf leaders talk about this when he was kidnapped together with 14 other farmers from the Golden Harvest Inc, a coconut plantation in Basilan, on June 11.

Guillo was the one who revealed to Southern Command Chief Roy Cimatu that two Arab-looking guests were at the hideout of the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan, two weeks after the September 11 terror attacks in the US.

Cimatu eventually identified the guests as Yemenis. Cimatu surprised everyone when he claimed that Guillo had told him about Abu Sayyaf leader Khadafy Janjalani's escape from Basilan, with the Arab looking guests.

At that time, Basilan Governor Wahab Akbar issued an order that all Arab-looking men in Basilan must be arrested for questioning. No one was arrested. Guillo managed to escape on October 14, a week after the military launched a major assault against the group.

The military has said many times that they have had an "eyeball-to eyeball" contact with the Abu Sayyaf leaders and their hostages, now eight, including the two American nationals.

The government has allowed the entry of American experts to teach and train the military and the police to fight terrorism, in Manila and in Zamboanga, a port city near Basilan and Jolo, the two strongholds of the group.