The Philippine government has signed a ceasefire pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Malaysia today.
The move raises the hopes of an end to three decades of rebellion on the southern island of Mindanao.
The deal, signed by both sides after days of talks, built on a preliminary accord agreed in Libya, but officials said that further talks were needed to reach a final agreement.
With the mainstream Moro National Liberation Front already having signed a peace deal, the only organised Muslim militant group still fighting in the southern Philippines is the Abu Sayyaf, whose main business is kidnap for ransom.
"It will hopefully quiet the guns and stop the fighting on the ground while we are still in the process of negotiating some more," Manila's chief negotiator, Mr Jesus Dureza, said after signing the pact with the MILF.
The ceasefire sets the stage for the two sides to begin talks to cement a lasting peace on Mindanao, the main island in the Muslim-dominated south of the mostly Roman Catholic Philippines.
"As far as security aspect is concerned we are satisfied. We hope this agreement will work," Mr Murad Ebrahim, the leader of the MILF team, told reporters.