Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared a unilateral cease-fire with communist guerrillas effectively immediately Monday in his first state-of-the-nation address before Congress.
Duterte declared his goal of a "permanent and lasting peace" before the end of his six-year term, after decades of violence.
Addressing the communist New People's Army, Duterte said: "Let us end these decades of ambushes and skirmishes. We are going nowhere and it is getting bloodier by the day."
"Let me make this appeal to you," he said. "If we cannot as yet love one another, then in God's name, let us not hate each other too much."