Never again an Aurora tragedy

The whole nation, not just the sports community, is in shock and dismay over the tragic passing of two Ateneo men’s basketball players during a team-building exercise in Aurora last Monday. Rene Clert (Bobet) Baterbonia, 19, was about to start his UAAP seniors career and Divine Adili, 21, had high hopes of improving on his performance as a Foreign Student Athlete this season. But their dreams were sadly swept away under a deluge of open sea waves that left them unreachable by rescuers.

Baterbonia was destined for greatness, his background a testimony of his potential accentuated by gold medals at the 2025 Palarong Pambansa and the 14th ASEAN School Games in Brunei.  When he bade his family and loved ones in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, goodbye to enroll at Ateneo, Baterbonia vowed to make them proud, to use his skills in building the foundations of a bright future. Adili also left his family and loved ones in Nigeria with the same mindset. The door of opportunity was just beginning to open for Baterbonia and Adili when fate slammed it shut.

Messages of sympathy flooded social media as the reaction towards the tragedy was widespread. PSC chairman Patrick Gregorio has organized a stakeholders panel to dig into the facts of the incident and “examine existing policies, protocols and training practices toward resolutions to strengthen safeguards in athletic training environments.” Gregorio’s aim isn’t only to get to the bottom of what transpired and determine accountability but also to lay the framework of a suitable training regimen with the safety and well-being of athletes in mind. His battlecry is never again an Aurora tragedy.

While there is an uproar over what happened, let’s wait for the stakeholders panel to draw its conclusions. Police authorities went through the process of investigating and said it was an accident with no foul play. Ruling out foul play was nothing earth-shaking. Of course, it was an accident. Nobody wanted it to happen. But is it true that the players were subjected to extremely difficult military-type drills? Did anyone check the weather conditions before the players plunged into open waters? Were there life-guards on duty? Were weights strapped on the players’ ankles? Did a tragic accident almost happen years ago during a similar exercise and what was learned from it?

It’s easy to whitewash this incident by claiming an accident. But was this an accident waiting to happen that happened? How could it have been averted? The questions must be answered not just to benefit the families of the victims but also for everyone to learn from this tragedy that it may never recur.