ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Palace: Immediate investigation needed into deaths of Ateneo athletes Baterbonia, Adili

Palace: Immediate investigation needed into deaths of Ateneo athletes Baterbonia, Adili

Published Jun 11, 2026 01:53 pm
Rene Clert Baterbonia, right, and Divine Adili (Rene Clert Baterbonia Facebook post / UAAP Media)
Rene Clert Baterbonia, right, and Divine Adili (Rene Clert Baterbonia Facebook post / UAAP Media)
Malacañang said that the tragic deaths of Ateneo athletes Rene Clert Baterbonia and Divine Adili should be investigated immediately.
Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said a prompt investigation is indeed necessary, considering that the reported training resulted in deaths.
"Unang-una po, of course, nakikiramay po tayo sa pangyayaring ito at ang nais din po ng Pangulo, hindi lamang po ‘to sa sitwasyon na ganito pero sa lahat po ng mga Pilipino na napupunta sa ganitong klaseng sitwasyon – dapat pong agaran ang pag-iimbestiga (First of all, of course, we extend our condolences regarding this incident, and what the President also wants—not just in situations like this, but for all Filipinos who find themselves in these kinds of circumstances is that an investigation should be conducted immediately)," Castro said in a Palace briefing on Thursday, June 11.
The Palace official said this when asked if there has been an order to law enforcement agencies to look into the athletes' deaths.
"So, kailangan po talaga ng agarang pag-iimbestiga rito dahil hindi po naging maganda ang naging resulta ng sinasabing training (So, an immediate investigation is really necessary here because the outcome of the said training was not good)," Castro said.
"Of course, hindi po natin kailangang i-preempt or mag-pre-judge dito so kailangan po talaga ng agarang imbestigasyon (Of course, we don’t need to preempt or pre-judge this, so a prompt investigation is truly required)," she added, referring to various claims regarding the incident.
Adili, 21, and Baterbonia, 19, died in a drowning incident during a team-building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora, on Monday, June 8.
Adili, a foreign student-athlete in Nigeria, has already made an impact in his rookie season with the Blue Eagles in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament.
Baterbonia, on the other hand, was regarded as among the country's top young basketball prospects. He was the most valuable player in the Palarong Pambansa after leading the Davao Region to the secondary boys’ basketball title in Laoag City last year.

Related Tags

Malacañan Palace Claire Castro Rene Baterbonia Divine Adili Ateneo investigation
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.