Canadian held hostage 6 months in Philippines begs for Justin Trudeau's help

READ THE LATEST: Family 'devastated' by loss of Canadiankilled by kidnappers in Philippines

A former Calgarianwho has been held hostage in the Philippines for nearly six monthswith a second Canadian and two othersis pleading for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to do what's needed in order to secure theirrelease.

"To the Canadian prime minister and to the Canadian people in the world, please, do as needed to meet their demands within one month or they will kill me,"John Ridsdelsaidin a video released Mar. 10 on a Facebook page linked to Philippine Islamists.

"They will execute us."

Ridsdela former mining company executive living in semi-retirementwas abductedalong with fellow Canadian Robert Hall, a Norwegian and a Filipino woman on Sept. 19 from an upscale beach resort on an south Philippine island.

• Former Calgary journalist among 4 abducted by gunmen on Philippine island

In the video, the three men are shown handcuffed on the ground. They are thin and shirtless.

The video was laterremoved from the Facebook site.

'They are really losing a lot of weight'

Freelance journalist Dean Bernardo, who has seen the video and recently visited the area where the group was abducted,told the Calgary Eyeopener thatthe hostages are not in great condition.

"They are really losing a lot of weight. They don't seem to be well treated," he said.

Bernardosaid their abductors are with theal-Qaeda-linkedAbuSayyafmilitants who have been active for years in the Mindanao region and are known for kidnapping for ransom.

"These are isolated islands," said Bernardo.

"You knowthere is no sufficient food or water in those areas."

Ridsdelisthe former chief operating officer of mining company TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc., a subsidiary ofthe Calgary-basedTVI Pacific, where he is still a consultant. Decades earlier, he hadworked as a journalistin the1970s, including with the CBC in Calgary.

'We will do something terrible,' captors warn

The latest video does not specify how much the ransom is, but one of the kidnappers did issue a one-month ultimatum.

"We will do something terrible against these captives," the masked spokesman says in the video.

In a November video released by the Abu Sayyaf militants, Ridsdel said the militants were demanding one billion pesos, or $28million Cdn, for each of them.

Bernardo expects that price will go down considerably as the April deadline approaches.

"They're hoping somebody will respond. Even if it's a small amount of money."

The Philippine Army is pursuing the kidnappers and say they are closing in.

"We're getting closer to them, hence, they needed to expedite the demand for ransom in order for them to escape from the hands of the law, which is closely catching up,"military spokesperson Restituto Padilla told Reuters.

However, Padilla said Philippine authorities will not negotiate with the kidnappers.

The Canadian governmenttold CBC News it is aware of the video that was released this week, but "would notcomment or release any information which may compromise ongoing efforts or endanger the safety of Canadian citizens."

With files from theCalgary Eyeopenerand Reuters