MARAWI CITY, Philippines—Unidentified gunmen released on Wednesday evening Manila-based Architect Pablo Mercado III, who was abducted in Saguiaran, Lanao Del Sur on October 23, a military official said Thursday.

Brigadier General Rey Ardo, local military commander in Lanao Del Sur, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Mercado was freed without ransom.

He said the Lanao Del Sur crisis management committee headed by Governor Mamintal Adiong negotiated with the armed group for 33 days and eventually succeeded in convincing its members to free the victim.

Ardo said Mercado told police that he was on his way to Iligan City on board a Toyota Tamaraw FX when abducted.

Mercado, Ardo said, also told authorities he was treated well by his abductors, whom he could not identify.

On Wednesday at about 8:30 p.m., Mercado was brought to Iligan City. The abductors abandoned him on Camague highway.

He was picked up there by a staff of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, who was also involved in the negotiations, Ardo said.

Mercado, he said, was flown to Manila early morning Thursday and was already reunited with his family.