EDITORIAL — Tragedies don’t just happen

The latest tragedy to hog our headlines involves the drowning of two athletes during a team-building outing in Dipaculao, Aurora, Quezon.

Rene Clert Baterbonia Baterbonia, 19, and Nigerian import Divine Adili, 21, both members of the Ateneo de Manila University’s basketball team, drowned during a team-building activity at the Hermanos Leisure Farm and Surf Camp in Barangay Lipit last Monday, June 8.

Their deaths have been ruled by police as accidental drowning.

One death during a team-building activity is too much; two deaths make it twice the tragedy. Naturally, there was a lot of outrage and reactions regarding the incident.

Contrary to the statement made by Baterbonia’s mother that weights had been attached to the hands and feet of her son, which allegedly led to his drowning, heartbreaking videos showing the two athletes being brought in from the sea shows no such devices on their bodies.

This again shows how a narrative --even one that has not been substantiated-- can quickly take root, spread, and become the anchor for outrage.

From what we can see, and pending presentation of evidence to suggest otherwise, there doesn’t seem to be any foul play or any intent by the team members or the coaching staff to put the two athletes through a grueling physical ordeal that could have led to their drowning.

However, the organizers, ultimately leading up to the university itself, are also not without responsibility.

Since the activity was in connection with building the teamwork of the basketball team, it falls under the category of a sanctioned university activity. The university cannot totally distance itself from any responsibility for the incident.

What rubs many people the wrong way is how the institution quickly rallied to protect itself and its reputation, choosing to prioritize optics instead of expressing grief for what happened, never mind owning up to any responsibility about the incident.

There has to be someone held accountable for what happened. Tragedies don’t just happen. Like everything else they are a result of a chain of events; one thing always leads to another. Among other reasons, they happen when warnings are ignored, safety precautions are not taken, and people get careless.