The World - News from June 3, 1987

Philippine army investigators recommended murder charges against 42 soldiers suspected of involvement in the killing of 17 villagers last February, a military inquiry commission said. Survivors in the remote northern village said the civilians, many of them children, were shot at close range and their houses burned. The soldiers denied shooting the villagers, saying they died in a crossfire during a battle with Communist guerrillas in which an army lieutenant died. President Corazon Aquino later visited the scene and ordered an investigation. The commission recommended that all 42 soldiers be court-martialed because none of the men would provide details of the incident.