Five suspected kidnappers and a police officer were killed on Tuesday in a shootout that led to the rescue of an abducted businessman in the Philippines, police said.

The businessman, a bystander and three police officers were wounded in the firefight on the outskirts of San Pablo City in Laguna province, 70 kilometres south of Manila, a police report said.

The hostage, identified as Ronaldo Arguelles, was abducted from his house in nearby Quezon province on Monday night, and police were in pursuit when they spotted the suspects in San Pablo during the ransom pay-off.

The shootout erupted when one of the suspects saw the police officers and opened fire, said Senior Superintendent Glenn Dumlao, head of the national police's anti-kidnapping group.

Dumlao said the suspects had posed as police officers when they swooped down on Arguelles' house, hogtied everyone inside and seized him.

The suspects later messaged the Arguelles' family with a ransom demand, he added.

Senior superintendent Rhorderick Armamento, the provincial police director in Quezon, said Arguelles was suspected of involvement in the illegal drugs trade.

‘He is in our list of drug groups and personalities,’ Armamento said. ‘This kidnapping is definitely related to illegal drugs.’  The Philippines's campaign against illegal drugs has been criticized by foreign and local human rights groups due to the high death toll in police operations and killings by alleged hired or vigilante killers.

Since the campaign started on President Rodrigo Duterte's first day in office on July 1, 2016, police have killed more than 4,100 suspected drug pushers and users in anti-drug operations, according to police data.

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