BACOLOD CITY—Authorities are eyeing a personal grudge and a connection to illegal drugs as possible motives in the killing of former professional basketball player Manuel "Maui" Huelar in Barangay Villamonte here on Thursday afternoon.

“It could be previous grudges considering that Maui Huelar after he was arrested, he became a whistleblower. He also named prominent personalities in the government, in the PNP linked to illegal drugs. Prominent personalities here in Bacolod. That could be one of the reasons,” said Bacolod City Police Office Spokesperson, Lt. Col. Ariel Pico.

Huelar was shot outside a private gym on Margarita Street.

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The former chairman of Barangay 35 was arrested in a buy-bust operation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in 2016. He was sent to prison after being found guilty of possession and selling illegal drugs, but Huelar entered a plea-bargaining and was released from prison in 2018.

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Meanwhile, City Police Director Police Col. Henry Biñas appealed to businesses near the crime scene to help investigators by providing a copy of their CCTV recordings.

Biñas said Huelar likely knew the person who phoned him and instructed him to go out of the gym before he was shot.

"Ang caller most probably in conspiracy especially in illegal drug business," Biñas said.

The caretaker of the gym where Huelar was shot said the gunman was wearing a grey shirt and a face mask.

The former point guard of the Negros Slashers in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association is the second barangay chairman and third barangay official in Bacolod City to have been murdered since 2019.