Surigao city: Police arrested two men in Surigao City on Tuesday, believed to be behind the 2022 killing of a former Cotabato City police director. Master Sgt. Marivic Maghanoy of the Police Anti-Kidnapping Group in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region stated that the arresting team was armed with a warrant for the suspects, issued by Judge Annabelle Piang of the Regional Trial Court Branch 13.

According to Philippines News Agency, the suspects, identified as Salem Edu and Berting Abdullah, both from Cotabato City, denied the charges against them. "We have been searching for them for the past months. Luckily, the long arm of the law caught them," Maghanoy told reporters in the vernacular. In response, Edu stated, "We vehemently deny the charges. We have nothing to do with the killing of Col. Balquin," during an interview at the AKG detention facility.

The incident in question occurred on March 19, 2022, when two men shot and killed Col. Balquin while he was sitting in the front of a city government vehicle. His police escort and driver, Master Sgt. Ariel Gutang, was wounded in the attack. Balquin had served as city police director for two years and, upon his retirement, was named chief of the civil security unit of the Cotabato City local government.