CHED tells Ateneo: Explain drowning of Baterbonia, Adili or face sanctions
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education has ordered Ateneo de Manila University to explain within 10 days why it should not be penalized over the drowning of two basketball players in Aurora, after the school allegedly refused to turn over information the commission had been requesting for a week.
CHED issued the show cause order on June 16 and shared it in a public statement signed by Chairperson Shirley Agrupis on Tuesday night, June 23.
The order follows the June 8 deaths of Rene Clert Baterbonia and Divine Adil, who both drowned "during a school-sanctioned team-building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora," the CHED statement read.
The commission said it had reached out to Ateneo a day after the tragedy. On June 9, CHED said its National Capital Region office directed Ateneo to hand over an incident report, a certificate of compliance with off-campus activity rules, and documents required under its anti-hazing policy.
Despite repeated follow-ups, the CHED chairperson said, the university did not produce the records.
"CHED cannot allow matters involving the loss of student lives and questions of institutional accountability to remain unaddressed," Agrupis said. "Higher education institutions are expected to cooperate fully with regulatory processes, particularly in incidents involving student safety and welfare."
What Ateneo must answer for
The order requires Ateneo to submit a written explanation under oath on why CHED should not impose sanctions for three alleged violations.
According to CHED, the first alleged violation is in relation to Memorandum Order 63 of 2017, which governs how schools run off-campus activities.
The second covers CHED Memorandum Order 6 of 2026 — the commission's anti-hazing policy — in relation to Republic Act 1053, the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018, and its implementing rules.
The third is the university's alleged failure to exercise reasonable supervision over its students under the principle of in loco parentis, the duty of a school to act in place of a parent.
Agrupis said institutions "entrusted with the care of students must comply with all laws, regulations, and safety requirements, especially in the conduct of off-campus activities."
Facing accountability. At Ateneo's first press conference on its basketball players' deaths on June 15, university president Fr. Roberto Yap denied the school was evading accountability and pledged full cooperation with CHED and other investigators.
An Ateneo crisis management team had reportedly submitted a report to CHED on June 9 describing an offseason team-building and training camp involving 24 student-athletes and seven adult supervisors.
Baterbonia and Adili were swept 300 to 700 meters into deeper waters and rip currents by a sudden succession of powerful waves. Other members of the team, as they later publicly recounted, were similarly caught in the waves and struggled to swim back to shore.
Head coach Thomas Anthony "Tab" Baldwin and team manager Epok Quimpo resigned on June 15; Baldwin, who apologized days earlier and said he "failed" as coach, is now under an immigration lookout bulletin order, and the UAAP has barred him and other coaching staff present at the activity.
The two players this week were laid to rest. Baterbonia was buried Wednesday, June 24, in his hometown of Talacogon, Agusan del Sur. Adili's remains were repatriated to Nigeria on June 22.
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