Gunmen agree to free 47 hostages in Philippines

Prosperidad: Officials say gunmen have agreed to release the 47 hostages they are holding at a southern Philippine jungle hideout, which has been surrounded by army troops and snipers.

Vice Governor Santiago Cane of Agusan del Sur province said Joebert Perez, the leader of the hostage-takers, signed an agreement with government negotiators to free his hostages later Sunday.

Cane said Perez, a former government militiaman who has turned to banditry, and government officials will travel in a convoy to the gunmen's hideout to fetch the hostages, abducted from a village Thursday.

It is one of a series of security crises to have gripped the volatile south, including jail break by Islamic militants Sunday.