Philippine officials confirmed Tuesday that Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded a Canadian man, the second Canadian hostage to be killed by Abu Sayyaf Islamist militants in two months after their demands for a large ransom were not met.

The hostage, Robert Hall, was abducted from a marina last September along with another Canadian, a Norwegian and a Filipino. The other Canadian, former mining executive John Ridsdel, was beheaded in April.

Presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma condemned "the brutal and senseless murder" of Hall. He had been held by the Abu Sayyaf in the jungle in southern Sulu province for nine months.

The government has vowed to end the militants' "reign of terror."