PHILIPPINE government negotiators held formal talks with Muslim separatists holding 21 mostly foreign hostages on Saturday, including two South Africans, and urged the depressed and ailing captives to hold on. More than a month after the holidaymakers were snatched from a Malaysian diving resort, the team met the rebels in mountainous jungle in the south to discuss their release. But there was no sign the hostages’ ordeal was nearing an end. ”Just hang on, we will get you out of here — don’t do anything foolish,” lead negotiator Roberto Aventajado told the captives, some of whom had previously spoken of suicide. Provincial governor Abdusakur Tan, a member of the team, said the hostages appeared well and in good spirits. ”They were upbeat,” Tan said. Another member of the party said: ”The hostages are okay, they were happy to see us there.”