Philippine Presidential Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regrets the killing of two of the four Chinese hostages Sunday when government troops engaged their captors, presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said Monday.

The government has already informed the Chinese Embassy on the incident and that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) are now condoling with the families of the victims, Tiglao said at a press briefing at Manila..

The Chinese Embassy, expressing shock and pain at the deaths of the hostages Sunday and requested an immediate explanation of the incident from the Philippine government.

It also strongly demanded that the Philippine government take all necessary measures to safeguard the lives of the hostages still alive and those of all Chinese citizens in the country.

According to the military, government soldiers engaged about 60 kidnap gang members Sunday morning in Colombio town in the southern province of Sultan Kudarat. During the fire fight, two of the Chinese hostages, Zhang Zhongyi and Xue Xing, tried to flee but were immediately shot dead by their captors while a third, Wang Shengli, managed to escape and was recovered.

The three Chinese nationals, together with a Filipino Chinese, Edwin Lim, were seized in Sultan Kudarat's neighboring province of Maguindanao on August 12 while reportedly delivering ransom money for the release of Zhang Zhongqiang, Zhang Zhongyi's brother.

The four Chinese nationals are employees of the China Electric Power Technology Import and Export Corp. working on an irrigation project in North Cotabato province. Zhang Zhongqiang was kidnapped in Maguindanao on June 20 while returning to the project site from a shopping trip.

Tiglao said the military will continue its operations against the abductors. The military are hoping that their pursuit operations "could yield results in the next few days," he added.

AFP spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan said earlier Monday that the remaining hostages are believed to be held by their captors somewhere in areas straddling Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

(Xinhua News Agency 08/20/2001)