Dressed in military fatigues and carrying rifles, the strangers began drifting into town the night of April 3 and continued arriving the next morning. Some came on buses, others in a truck. Residents of the isolated trading town of Ipil (pop. 52,000), 500 mi. south of Manila, noticed the newcomers. But soldiers are a common sight most places in the Philippines, particularly on the turbulent southern island of Mindanao, with its history of Muslim insurgency. "We thought they were real army," said Arturo Dimla, a local accounts clerk.
Until 12:30 p.m. the next day, that is, when one of the gunmen...
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