Rene Baterbonia (left) and Divine Adili
MANILA, Philippines — The drowning of two members of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) men’s basketball team during a team-building activity in Aurora province on Monday was “purely [an] accident” and didn’t involve foul play, a police official said on Tuesday, citing statements gathered from people on the scene.
“What happened was a natural accident. It really was not expected and for now, we don’t see any foul play on this incident,” Police Col. Percival Pineda, acting Aurora provincial police director, said in Filipino during a press conference held within the capital Baler.
Following the police pronouncements, sports, academic and education department officials will likely be discussing the incident in a gathering scheduled for today, while some lawmakers are still calling for a deeper investigation.
READ: Police say no weights attached to bodies of drowned Ateneo athletes
The mother of one among the victims also took to social media to bewail the lack of know-how immediately reaching her family, as she also questioned the very activity her son was made to undergo without her being told about it.
Late Monday, the university confirmed in a press release that two members of its Blue Eagles basketball team, rookie Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili, drowned earlier that day in Dipaculao town.
READ: Ateneo players’ deaths put highlight on Blue Eagles ‘bootcamp’
Baterbonia, a 19-year-old standout from Ateneo de Davao, saw motion for Davao Region within the Palarong Pambansa basketball finals two weeks ago and had just arrived in Metro Manila last week to affix the Blue Eagles in its University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 89 campaign. Adili, 21, was a Nigerian student-athlete who played for the Blue Eagles in UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament last yr.
In keeping with Pineda, the accident happened at a beach resort in Barangay Lipit, Dipaculao, at 2:40 p.m. The team members, he said, were wading through the ocean as a part of their team-building activities, with the water level reaching their thighs, when Baterbonia and Adili hit a deeper area.
“Within the place that they were walking on, there’s a deep area. After which, they were suddenly swept by the present, toward the farther a part of the ocean,” he said.
The resort lifeguard tried but failed to avoid wasting the 2 players, Pineda said. The local police and the Philippine Coast Guard sent their respective teams to the realm after receiving a call reporting the accident at 3:15 p.m.
“The victims were promptly transported to a medical facility; nonetheless, they were later declared dead by the attending physician,” a separate statement from the Central Luzon regional police said. “We respectfully ask the general public to refrain from speculation and permit the authorities to finish the investigation.”
In a press release on Tuesday, ADMU said the stays of the 2 student-athletes have been taken to Arlington Memorial Chapels and Crematory in Quezon City from Aurora Memorial Hospital. Adili’s stays will likely be taken to Nigeria while an autopsy will likely be performed on Baterbonia on the request of his family.
Ateneo vowed to support the families of the 2 student-athletes in addition to the remaining of the team and training staff, while “pursuing a careful and thorough understanding of the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.”
It said further updates, including “measures being undertaken to review the circumstances of the incident,” will likely be shared once available.
Stakeholders’ panel
On Tuesday, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) announced that a stakeholders’ panel will meet today on the PSC headquarters to debate the incident and gather information from concerned agencies.
The panel will include PSC Chair Patrick Gregorio, PSC Commissioner Fritz Gaston, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Executive Director Erika Dy, Commission on Higher Education Chair Shirley Agrupis, UAAP representatives Rebo Saguisag and Fr. Aldrin Suan, National Youth Commission Chair Jeff Ortega and Department of Education Undersecretary Malcolm Garma.
The PSC said Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla has assured the panel of an official report from the Philippine National Police in Aurora. Findings from the discussions will likely be coordinated with the PNP and the Department of Justice.
In Camp Crame, Remulla told reporters that the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) will release a report on the drowning incident soon.
Mother’s grief
In a series of Facebook posts, Baterbonia’s mother, Rovelyn, expressed grief and frustration over what she said was a lack of know-how provided to the family.
“Wherever we go, we’ll carry memories of you that no amount of cash can ever replace,” she wrote in Filipino. “I still hope that when your father and I arrive, you’ll get up and start a second chapter of your life, son.”
She also said she had not personally seen her son’s stays when news of his death began circulating online.
“I still haven’t seen my son’s body,” she wrote. “Nobody has shown me any proof that he is admittedly gone. To date, we still haven’t been told exactly what happened or where my son is.”
Rovelyn also questioned the character of the activity, saying she was unaware her son could be participating in a training camp much like the offseason “boot camp” discussed by former Ateneo player Mike Nieto in a podcast interview.
“In the event that they had told us about this type of training, I might never have allowed my son to go,” she wrote. “We weren’t informed about it.”
Pineda said it was not the primary time that the Ateneo basketball team, along with its coaching staff and trainers, held a team-building exercise within the resort in Aurora.
“Up to now years, they already had activities in the identical resort as well, that’s why we predict they know the situation in that area. They’re doing their usual activities,” he said.
Congressional probe
Pineda said the Dipaculao local government would conduct a full inspection and investigation in the realm to stop a repeat of the incident. He said the police had also reminded resort owners in Aurora, a province within the country’s eastern seaboard facing the Pacific Ocean and a preferred browsing destination, to make sure the protection of guests of their establishments.
On the House of Representatives, Manila Rep. Joel Chua suggested that the National Bureau of Investigation take the lead in investigating the incident.
“I’m not accusing anyone at this stage. But every legitimate query should be asked, and each lead should be pursued. No angle ought to be prematurely dismissed,” he added.
Deputy Speakers Paolo Ortega V, Jefferson Khonghun, and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said that while they urge authorities to act fast, they may also file a resolution looking for a congressional inquiry into the incident.
“Such an investigation is crucial not only to ascertain the facts but additionally to supply the legislative basis for crafting recent laws or amending existing ones. Our objective is to institutionalize stricter safety standards for all school, sports, and team-building activities nationwide, in order that no other family could have to endure this type of preventable loss,” they said in a joint statement.
Pinoy Staff party-list Rep. Karl Fernandez Legazpi also said that the incident ought to be a reminder that while there’s a must push student-athletes toward discipline and resilience, institutions must have the “highest standards of safety, care, and accountability.” —WITH A REPORT FROM JASON SIGALES