DAVAO CITY, Philippines, May 4 -- Leftist rebels are holding close to 40 civilians in southern Philippines, and negotiations were conducted to free the hostages, authorities said on Sunday.

The alleged hostage-taking in Mahayahay village, Maragusan town, in Mindanao's Compostela Valley started around 10 a.m. on Saturday as dozens of heavily-armed New People's Army guerrillas gathered 39 villagers, said Ernest Carolina, spokesperson of the army's 10th Infantry Division.

Pat Lucero, an aide to provincial governor Arturo Uy, said an emergency meeting has been called on Sunday for local authorities to negotiate with the rebels for the victims' safe release.

"No motive seen yet (behind the hostage-taking)," Governor Uy told Xinhua by mobile phone, adding the hostage-takers also have yet to issue any demand.

The incident came just a day after Philippine police arrested a ranking rebel leader tagged as behind the killing of government troops in Davao del Sur and Cotabato provinces, hundreds of kilometers to the south.

The 4,000-strong NPA, armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, is fighting a leftist insurgency in 60 Philippine provinces since 1969.