Mourning Eagles

This is very difficult to write, and not just because of all of the painful, deep emotions and sensitivities one must respect. This writer and several family members are all Ateneans. My sons even played basketball for Team B for years. We would hate to see the institution we’ve known tainted or behaving poorly in this situation. But facts are facts, and people are flawed. We need to handle the preventable deaths of Rene Clert Baterbonia and Divine Adili with great care and respect.

Firstly, the open waters of Barangay Libis, Dipaculao, Aurora were definitely not a controlled environment. When Muhammad Ali pioneered aqua training to improve his speed and explosiveness, it was in a swimming pool. When Michael Jordan did it to heal from a broken foot, he did the same, with sneakers on. Even during military training, they generally train in a deep pool holding dumbbells underwater until they can no longer hold their breath and let go, so they can surface. In extreme training situations, they wade into open seas fully clothed and with gear, but never too far from shore. Safety measures are always present, and swimming training is always a prerequisite. And that is military training, not sports training.

In addition, the weather was not ideal. What happens when you get hit by big waves or step off a shelf inadvertently and don’t know how to swim? You panic. You struggle. You fight the current. You get tired, more so if you’d already done other exercises like running beforehand. You don’t know how to swim parallel to shore. That’s what gets you. We will never know why this exercise was done this way. That will sadly remain a mystery. However, the close calls over the past few years should have been a warning to improve safety precautions or rethink the program. It is the unusual circumstances that stir the biggest questions.

This is a situation wherein we must be sober enough to protect everyone involved, even those we think were neglectful, for the moment, until we know more. The immediate priority is salving the unfathomable loss of the two families, and grieving with them. But also, their questions must be answered. Let fear of responsibility not be a determinant of how we respond to these situations. We already see enough of that in politics. The honorable course of action must be taken. Being a man for others includes everyone.

Secondly, it is impossible to separately monitor all the activities of all sports teams of a school system like Ateneo. Coaches and program directors are – theoretically – qualified and given a lot of latitude. And since the athletes involved are considered adults, informing parents of the details of such training is unnecessary or at least a gray area. But having said that, the leadership to take action after the fact has also been wanting. That is what angers people, who feel that the victims were not respected or given the dignity of being treated with reverence, or the institution has simply circled the wagons. The deafening silence and lack of the expected response gives the impression of hiding, of guilt, of escape, whether or not that is the case. True, head coach Tab Baldwin and team manager Epok Quimpo are supposedly on leave to clear the path to a proper investigation. But more is expected, like visibility. To be fair, they are within their rights to not say anything for or against themselves until legally compelled to do so, which is what the public seems to want.

Government institutions have intervened, and lawyers are actively working on both sides. It will now become a different kind of battle, where one side wins at a cost, or both sides lose. We know what happened, and who was involved, but to what degree and why? Who ultimately made the fatal decisions? It could have been handled better. Now, who will step forward with their mea culpa?