Philippine president declares truce with communist guerrillas

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared a unilateral cease-fire with communist guerrillas effective immediately Monday and asked the rebels to do the same to end decades of fighting and foster the resumption of peace talks.

In his first state of the nation address, Duterte called for a “lasting peace” before the end of his sixyear term, which began June 30.

Addressing the New People’s Army guerrillas, Duterte said: “Let us end these decades of ambuscades and skirmishes. We are going nowhere, and it is getting bloodier by the day.”

“If we cannot as yet love one another, then in God’s name, let us not hate each other too much,” he said.

The communist guerrillas welcomed Duterte’s move and said they would wait for a copy of his truce order before “reciprocating positively.”