Ateneo de Manila University president Fr. Bobby Yap faced the media on Monday, June 15, exactly one week after two Blue Eagles basketball players drowned during a team-building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora. His message: the school will provide material support to the families — but this isn't a settlement. It's a moral obligation.
"While no amount of material support can ever compensate for the loss of a son, Ateneo has offered full assistance and support to the Adili and Baterbonia families to cover all financial, emotional, and long-term burdens arising from this tragedy," Yap said.
Rene Baterbonia, 18, and Divine Adili, 21, died on June 8. Both were pursuing basketball to give their families better lives. Baterbonia left his hometown of Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, moving to Davao City a couple of years ago. He first attended Ananda Marga Special Academic Institution, then Ateneo de Davao Senior High School, before being recruited by Ateneo de Manila. Adili, a Nigerian, left his home country as a teenager.
He first played for New Era University in the juniors' division of the National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities (NAASCSU), leading the school to back-to-back championships. He transferred to Ateneo and suited up for the Blue Eagles in the UAAP last year.
Yap said the school has been in touch with both families since day one. Ateneo offered to pay for the travel expenses of Baterbonia's family from Mindanao to Manila, but the family chose to accept help from the Agusan del Sur government instead. The school will cover all funeral expenses for both players, including flying Adili's family from Nigeria to the Philippines and back, as well as repatriating his body.
Baterbonia's remains have been transported to Agusan del Sur after Ateneo de Davao held a three-day wake and public viewing that drew thousands of mourners. In celebration of his life, the school offered his six siblings full scholarships from basic education to college, renamed the Senior High School basketball court after him, and retired his jersey. Adili's body lies at the Immaculate Conception Chapel inside the Ateneo de Manila campus in Katipunan, Quezon City.
Yap described the assistance as covering "a good period of time" to support the families' needs. He stressed that the support isn't a legal settlement but a recognition of the university's moral responsibility. "We will provide assistance, material assistance, to the families and we see that not as a form of legal settlement but that is really a form of our moral responsibility," Yap said.