Following the October arrest of 65-year-old Arturo Balume, Sr., the leader of the Balume drug group, Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) director, Police Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, recently awarded the P100,000 reward to the male informant, who police characterized as “very crucial.”

Tayaba noted, the reward money was sourced from the Sara municipal government, under Mayor Ermilita Salcedo.

Balume earlier confirmed he worked as security personnel for both former Sara Mayor Neptali Salcedo and incumbent Estancia Mayor Rene Cordero, along with being granted authority over a fishing port by Cordero.

The suspect was wanted for the murders of Ronaldo Estandarte and Roberto Magarso, bodyguards for Cordero’s opponent in the previous mayoral election, Melina Requinto.

Back in October, Balume was tracked down in Barangay 1, Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental, where he was arrested alongside his son, Arturo Balume II.

At the time, Tayaba said he believed Balume was both acting as a drug runner and overseeing a gun-for-hire operation in Negros Occidental./WDJ