Peace begets peace when both sides seriously seek it

The initiative of goodwill taken by President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday to suspend combat operations against the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines throughout the Christmas holidays -- despite his security officials’ recommendation to the contrary -- has yielded the desired result.

Two days later, the New People’s Army followed Duterte’s lead and declared an eight-day unilateral ceasefire, starting from 6:00 p.m. on December 24 to 6:00 p.m.of December 26 and again on December 30 to January 2 of 2018.