But Mayor Husssin Amin of Jolo, the capital of Sulu province, called for an investigation of the alleged involvement of Philippine officials in the payment of the ransom money.

The ransom payment was made public by Abu Rami, spokesperson of the Abu Sayyaf, who had confirmed that his group has received the whole P250 million ransom money "no more no less."

Rami also revealed that top Philippine government officials were among members of the team that delivered the money to the Abu Sayyaf in an undisclosed village in Patikul, a town in Sulu province and considered as lair of the Abu Sayyaf.

Mayor Amin said despite denials made by government officials, including President Aquino, it appears that he Abu Sayyaf got the ransom money that it earlier demanded in exchange for the release of the two German nationals.

Amin said that if indeed ransom was paid, the government is indirectly arming the Abu Sayyaf.

"These bandits can buy many firearms with the money and they can further endanger our lives. There has to be an investigation," he added.

Retired Police Chief Inspector Antonio Clarito, who is a gun enthusiast, said that the ransom paid could acquire for the Abu Sayyaf some 1,250 pieces of high-end and state-of-the art weapons. President Aquino has admitted that the Abu Sayyaf is still holding at least 11 hostages. Aquino claimed they "are reasonably in good health" based on "intelligence reports."

Tagged as a terrorist group by the U.S. and the Philippine governments, the Abu Sayyaf is a loose band of a few hundred militants founded in the 1990s by late Abdurajak Janjalani, an Islamic preacher and veteran of the Afghanistan war.

The name of the group is derived from the Arabic word "abu," which means father, and "sayyaf," which means swordsmith.

The Abu Sayyaf claims it is fighting to establish an independent Islamic homeland in the Muslim-populated south of the mainly Catholic Philippines.

In July, a video appeared on YouTube where one of the Abu Sayyaf leaders, Isnilon Hapilon, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) extremists who have taken control of large parts of Iraq and Syria.