A Filipino hostage held by militants in Iraq since last November has been freed, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said Wednesday.

Arroyo said Roberto Tarongoy was now in the safe keeping of Filipino diplomats in Baghdad and would be flying home at an unspecified date. She did not provide further details.

"At long last, Robert Tarongoy will be coming home soon," Arroyo said in a statement on government radio.

Tarongoy, an accountant who worked for a Saudi firm based in Baghdad, was seized from his workplace along with an American colleague. The fate of the American remains unknown.