GENERAL SANTOS—(UPDATE 3) After almost two months in captivity, a Special Forces Army officer was finally released by the New People’s Army before noon Tuesday, a police official said.

First Lieutenant Vincent Cammayo was handed over between 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon to representatives of the Interfaith Movement for Peace, a church group, in Loreto town on the southern island of Mindanao, guerrilla spokesman Rigoberto Sanchez said in a radio broadcast.

Cammayo, commander of the 11th Company of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion, was captured on November 7 following a clash with the communist New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas.

Sanchez said he could have been freed on December 28 but this was delayed by military operations in the area.

Cammayo's wife Mariel confirmed the release through a text message.

“He was released na [already]. I was able to talk with him around 11:45 a.m.,” said Mrs. Cammayo, who had repeatedly appealed to communist rebels for her husband’s release.

The freed officer was taken to a military camp in Davao City where he will undergo a medical checkup and a debriefing before he will be allowed to return home to his family, said local military spokesman Major Randolph Cabangbang.

Both spokesmen made no mention of any conditions for release of the hostage.

The rebels had earlier freed a captured policeman, Eduardo Tumol, who was seized on November 5 at a checkpoint in the village of Baogo in Davao Oriental's Caraga town.

The communist rebels had accused both Tumol and Cammayo of human rights violations and other crimes related to their counterinsurgency activities in Mindanao.

The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been fighting for four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state.

Peace talks between Manila and the communists collapsed in 2004 after both sides failed to sign an agreement ending hostilities in the countryside.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres, Jr. attributed Cammayo’s release to the “concerted efforts of the local government officials, family of Lieutenant Cammayo and the security forces in the area.”

“There is no reason for anybody to be grateful to the NPA for the release of Lieutenant Cammayo,” Torres said adding that what the group did was “not an act of good will.”

The release of Cammayo came a day after the military accused the rebel group of using the issue as communist “propaganda.”

The NPA rebels earlier said that they would free Cammayo within the four-day holiday ceasefire declared by the government, which expired January 1.

Torres reiterated his previous statement saying that the rebel group prolonged the release of Cammayo since the NPA rebels “were expecting to gain propaganda from that atrocious act.”

Despite the release of Cammayo, Torres said that military pursuit operations against the rebels would continue.

“Being a clear criminal act, those who are behind the abduction must be held responsible under a legitimate justice system and we shall continue our vigorous military operation to pursue the abductors,” Torres said.

The AFP also maintained that it was not involved in any negotiation as the military drew up a rescue operation after his capture on November 7.

Torres urged the public to remain vigilant. “The abduction of Lieutenant Cammayo serves as a reminder that these communist terrorists will not spare anyone from the perils of their treacherous attacks. Thus, we appeal to the public to remain vigilant against terrorist’s threats at all times,” he said.