(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Gunmen on Monday released the wife of a retired education superintendent and her grandson less than 24 hours after they were snatched from their home in the southern Philippines, where kidnap-for-ransom gangs are known to hold captives in jungle hideouts.

Chief Insp. Salvador Galvez, police chief of Vitali village, Zamboanga City, told Anadolu Agency that Isabel Muyargas and her five-year-old grandson, Kyle, were abandoned by kidnappers around 2 a.m. Monday (1700GMT SUNDAY) in Zamboanga City, some 70 kilometers from where they were abducted.

A viallge councillor is reported to have explained to the kidnappers that aside from being sick the hostages did not have money to pay any ransom.

Muyargas and the boy were seized from their house in Bangkerohan village, Ipil town at noon Sunday by men carrying assault rifles and handguns.

Galvez said that around 2 p.m. Monday, Muyargas and the boy found themselves in the house of a village official who called police to fetch them.

Police have no information on the circumstances behind the release.

The abduction comes six months after two teachers were kidnapped in the same province before being taken to Sulu.

One of the siblings was released in June, and officials blamed the case on the Abu Sayyaf.

Kidnap-for-ransom gangs frequently operate in Zamboanga Peninsula and the provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.

The gangs are known to hand over their captives to the Abu Sayyaf and negotiate for a ransom that, if paid, is shared with the group.

The kidnappers use isolated sea-lanes and coastal areas to grab their victims, who are then held captive in isolated Muslim villages in the peninsula.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf - armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles - has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion in the Philippines.

It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.

Among the captives still in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf group were foreigners Elwold Horns of Holland, Malaysian Thien Nyuk Fun, Cambodian Bernard Then Ted Fen, Korean businessman Noui Hong Sung and long-time captive Japanese national Toshio Ito.