THE death of Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili during a team-building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora, was no accident, according to the initial probe conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
“Not an accident,” Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico II, CIDG director, told reporters in a press briefing at Camp Crame on Wednesday.
The CIDG previously said the investigation is likely leaning toward a possible homicide or hazing case, noting the Anti-Hazing Law also covers forced physical exercises initially looked into by authorities.
ADMU dismissed the possibility of homicide and hazing.
Pelagio Cuison, lawyer of ADMU basketball coach Reynaldo Jacinto, who has been part of the basketball team for 20 years, told the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that what happened to Baterbonia and Adili was an accident.
Based on gathered information, Morico said that the afternoon activity of the players was done about 700 meters away from the resort, devoid of houses or people.
In a podcast interview, Blue Eagles Kieffer Alas and Sam Reyes, who were present during the incident, denied any hazing that happened.
The CIDG said that such a denial does not automatically dismiss the possibility of hazing, noting the investigation is still ongoing.
“We will see,” Morico said, adding statements made by the players in the podcast were classified as “hearsay.”
He said corroborating their claims through individual interviews with the rest of the participants is necessary to reconstruct the incident.
Several past and present Blue Eagles appeared in separate inquiries on the incident by the CIDG and the NBI.
Other former student athletes were also invited to shed light on the team building led by former ADMU head coach Tab Baldwin.
