A wealthy Filipino-Chinese banker kidnapped by armed men last month in southern Philippines has been released after ransom was allegedly paid, local police said on Saturday.

The victim, Johnson Teng, president and owner of Rural Bank of Placer in the southern city of Surigao, was freed by his kidnappers but his family remained mum about his case, Caraga regional police spokesperson Senior Inspector Nelly Villagracia told Xinhua on Saturday.

Police said armed men forcibly took Teng from inside his house on Jan. 7.

"We learned that he (Teng) was already released by his kidnappers and the last information we received was that he was brought by his family in Manila," Villagracia said.

Last week, a Filipino-Chinese businessman, Wilson Tan, and his daughter Jennifer, 10, taken by armed men in Cotabato, were released after five days in captivity after paying huge ransom.

In the southern Island of Sulu, Philippine troops are still hunting down Abu Sayyaf militants suspectedly holding a Sri Lankan national Umar Jaleel of Nonviolent Peace force on the Basilan island and three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Jolo island, namely, Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2009)