MANILA - Islamist Abu Sayyaf militants have freed two Filipino TV crew members seized along with a Jordanian journalist nearly eight months ago in the southern Philippines, police said yesterday.

Looking frail and gaunt, audio technician Roland "Buboy" Letriro and cameraman Ramil Vela walked free on Saturday on Jolo Island, where they had been held since June last year, regional police chief Noel delos Reyes said.

Delos Reyes said there was "no word" on the fate or exact whereabouts of the Jordanian journalist, Bakr Atyani, of the Dubai-based Al Arabiya network.

"Shortly after they were freed they called their families from a hotel room in Jolo," Delos Reyes said.

"They were then taken by authorities to the provincial hospital to be checked."

As they lay on their hospital beds the two tearfully recounted their ordeal at the hands of the militants in Jolo's harsh jungle, according to Jolo deputy provincial police chief Roy Gabor.

"We went through so much difficulty. We didn't know whether we would make it out alive," Gabor quoted the two as saying as they were given bread and water.

He described the pair as very emotional, and said they emerged from the jungle looking thin and with unkempt hair and beards.

"They were a bit confused. They said they were just told to leave the hostage lair," Gabor said.

The two said they had been separated from Atyani on the fifth day of their captivity, and had not seen him since. - Sapa-AFP