(UPDATE) ATENEO de Manila Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin resigned from his position following the drowning of his players Rene Baterbonia, 18, and Divine Adili, 21, in a training activity in Dipaculao Beach, Aurora last week.
In a press briefing Monday, Ateneo president Fr. Roberto Yap S.J. said the university accepted Baldwin’s resignation as well as team manager Epok Quimpo.
“I also must inform everyone that the university has accepted the resignation of head coach Thomas Anthony ‘Tab’ Baldwin effective immediately. We thank him for the years of service for the Blue Eagles,” Yap said.
The announcement came as the police said preliminary investigations suggest that the deaths of the student athletes could qualify as a case of homicide and hazing.
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday presented a timeline of incidents beginning from Baterbonia’s departure from Davao City up to the last activity the group did before the drowning happened.
MGen. Robert Alexander Morico II, CIDG director, said the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 covers not only physical or psychological harm inflicted on recruits as a prerequisite to admission or continuing membership, but also any form of forced physical activity or training.
Morico said hazing was indeed “possible” because Baterbonia was an incoming college freshman in Ateneo. Also, the physical activities which border on life-threatening could be covered by the Anti-Hazing Law.
Rovelyn Baterbonia, mother of Rene, earlier said her son bore bruises and several contusions but Aurora Police initially ruled out foul play.
Morico said the physical harm would be among the questions they would be asking the players who participated in the team building as well as the coaches who facilitated the training.
No-show
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Baldwin, Quimpo as well as Ateneo professor Nemesio Que, SJ were no-shows at a fact-finding session at Camp Crame to which they had been subpoenaed, but the university sent a lawyer to represent them.
Only the university’s athletics director Em Fernandez appeared Monday.
Remulla said they will issue another subpoena on Friday and warned that nonappearance would bring sanctions.
“A second absence will warrant a contempt of court if they do not attend,” Remulla said.
“It is a fact-finding mission, not fault-finding. We are not here to arrest, we are not here to charge but merely to gather the facts,” Remulla said.
“We are only after what truly happened. Who authorized the training session, how they went there, and who ordered the training. We will get all of that,” he said in Filipino.
The CIDG also said it will issue a subpoena Smart Communications Foundation to shed light on the deaths, after they have learned that
Ateneo’s basketball program is autonomous from the university and is handled by that foundation.
NBI probe
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it expects to complete within the week its fact-finding investigation into the drowning, as it prepares to summon Baldwin, members of the Ateneo basketball team, university officials, and other persons involved in the incident.
Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said subpoenas would be issued beginning Tuesday to Baldwin, members of the basketball team, and school officials to help investigators establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Baterbonia and Adili.
The Department of Justice earlier directed the NBI to investigate the June 8 drowning incident in Dipaculao, Aurora.
The NBI chief said investigators have already gathered statements from people in the area, including the resort owner and local officials, and will continue to summon other concerned parties and agencies as part of the inquiry.
Matibag said the bureau is validating witness accounts, social media posts, and other information collected during the investigation to determine exactly what transpired before, during, and after the incident.
Despite growing public scrutiny, he said the probe remains in the fact-finding stage and that investigators have not yet reached any conclusion regarding possible negligence or criminal liability.
“All involved parties will be invited and given the opportunity to give their statements,” Matibag said, adding that the bureau wants to complete the investigation as quickly as possible so it can submit appropriate recommendations.
He said the NBI expects to wrap up its investigation within the week.
Matibag also confirmed that investigators would examine allegations raised by Baldwin’s estranged wife and daughter, who have publicly claimed that they had warned the university that the longtime coach posed a danger to students and should have been removed from his position.
“We will also look into those claims,” he said.
The NBI director appealed to witnesses and others with information about the incident to cooperate with investigators, saying their testimonies would be crucial in establishing the facts surrounding the deaths.
Matibag also addressed reports of an alleged gag order related to the case, saying any such restriction would not apply to investigators carrying out their duties.
The deaths of Baterbonia and Adili have drawn national attention and prompted calls for accountability, with authorities seeking to determine whether safety protocols were followed during the team-building activity and whether any parties may be held responsible for the tragedy.
Winning coach
Baldwin, who also handled the Gilas Pilipinas program and served as consultant for the TNT franchise in the PBA, led the Blue Eagles to four UAAP men’s basketball championships including a three-peat from Season 80 to 82 (2017 to 2019).
The 68-year-old renowned international Kiwi American coach started coaching the Blue Eagles in 2016 and just signed a three-year extension last year.
That will not be the case anymore as Ateneo looks to overhaul not just the leadership of its basketball program but review its entire sports programs.
“But as we enter a period of deep institutional review, a change in leadership is necessary to ensure the full integrity of our sports programs and safety protocols governing them,” Yap said.
“We must look inward, examine our systems and rebuild the structures of our athletic programs so that our fields and playing courts will be places where dreams are nurtured, not broken.” Breaking his silence last Friday, an emotional Baldwin said that the Blue Eagles were doing a “routine training run” in “what we thought was shallow water” in Dipaculao beach.
When the players were reportedly swept by the current, Baldwin said everyone on the team did everything they could to bring back everyone to the shore but they lost Baterbonia and Adili.
Rescuers found Baterbonia and Adili’s bodies but it was all too late.
On Wednesday, the Aurora Provincial Police Office, based on a post-mortem examination certificate, said Baterbonia and Adili died of asphyxia by drowning.
Still, many people held Baldwin responsible for his players’ deaths, as he was the head coach who ordered the training in an uncontrolled environment which was the sea.
In his video, Baldwin apologized for the death of his players, saying he failed as a coach, leader, and friend to Baterbonia and Adili.
“In that moment (when we lost Baterbonia and Adili), I experienced the descent into the darkest place imaginable. And yet I knew at the same time that good people, people that had done an amazing job raising these two young men, were going to be in an even darker, more horrible place,” said Baldwin.
“At that moment, I felt I had failed. I failed as a leader. I felt I had failed as a coach. I certainly felt like I had failed as a friend to Divine and Rene. And when later I faced the team to try to be a leader in that moment, I felt that I failed them too.”
