A memo circulating widely in the southern Philippines describing secret shoot-to-kill order against Muslim separatist chief Hashim Salamat, allegedly on orders of the president, has enraged many moderate Muslim Filipinos. They say the government wants to control oil deposits in the rebel stronghold in Central Mindanao.
The Buliok Complex in Pikit, North Cotabato is within a marsh land area believed to have big oil reserves.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye called the alleged order a fabrication intended to inflame Muslim sentiments . He said the presidential palace had no intention of investigating the memo's origin.
Another presidential palace source insisted the memo was fake because it had no computer bar code or presidential seal.
A Muslim source said he had obtained the memo from 'a very, very reliable source inside the presidential palace.' Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesman Eid Kabalu, who has a copy, said: 'Whether fake or authentic, its contents are authentic.'
'The contents describe and even coincide with what happened and is happening right now,' he said.
The two-page memo, marked 'secret' and with the alleged signature of Mrs Arroyo, is dated February 11 - the same day 2,000 government troops attacked the Buliok Complex.