It has caught the attention of the nation in the past week.
On Friday, June 12, Ateneo De Manila University Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin broke his silence days after the tragic deaths of student-athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili.
In his pre-recorded video statement, Baldwin said he had spoken to the families of both players and told that he has been asked by the university to limit his message to just four minutes.
“I’ve been asked to limit my comments this morning to four minutes. And in a situation in which I’ve been utterly loss for words, four minutes seems like an eternity. And yet if I have the opportunity to speak about Rene and Divine, I believe I could speak for hours,” he said.
He added that the team, along with the bereaved families and loved ones are also carrying “immense” sorrow, grief, and remorse.
“But I’ve known since the moment that I was told that our boys have passed away, that no matter the magnitude of our grief, there were two families that experienced a loss that was so much greater than ours. And a loss that would stay with them in the most acute way for the remainder of their lives,” he continued.
“Never again would Rene’s mother and father, and family. Never again would Divine’s family be able to talk to their son or touch their son.“
As coach, he said that he had lost his boys, too. “Never again would I be able to help them develop into the basketball players they wanted to be, to help them grow into the young men that they promised they could be,” he said.
“But that’s insignificant compared to what the families are experiencing. As a coach, we’re entrusted with the growth of our basketball players, the development of these young men into future professionals,” Baldwin furthered.
He also acknowledged that the parents and families entrusted their sons’ well-being to him. “And in this, I feel I failed. And I’m sorry. To the depth of my being, I’m sorry.“
He then narrated what happened on the fateful day of June 8, 2026 at a beachside resort in Dipaculao, Aurora, where the Blue Eagles were for a team-building activity.
“On that fateful day when we sent the players out for a routine training run in what we thought was shallow water, up to the moment when we realized that whatever it happened, they were in dangerous water.
“And we did everything that we could as coaches, as people responsible for that situation. The players themselves did everything they could to ensure that everybody arrived back on shore safely.
“And then we realized that we that haven’t accomplished that. And at that moment, I experienced the descent into the darkest place imaginable.
“And yet I knew at the same time, that good people who have done an amazing job raising these two young men were going to be in an even darker, more horrible place. At that moment, I felt I have failed. I failed as a leader. I felt I have failed as a coach. I certainly felt like I have failed as a friend to Divine and Rene. And when later I faced the team to try to be a leader in that moment, I felt that I failed them, too.“
Coach Tab then said that after the incident, he has been left to pray with the rest of thr community and hope that “the Lord gives peace, comfort, some sense of sanity to the Baterbonia family and the Adili family.”
“And I continue to beseech everybody that cared for, loved Rene and Divine, and their families, please keep praying. I think that my voice in prayer is hoarse now, but it will never be enough,” he continued.
Baldwin then said that as everyone tries to “move forward” without the two, he hopes in “binding together” as a community, basketball team, and nation, that “we lean on the one place that will never let us down — and that is our Lord.”
“I’m so deeply sorry. And I’m so deeply sorry to not just the families, but everybody that feels let down, somehow betrayed. And I pray that we find some path forward to come back to hope for the future, love for one another, and forgiveness for those who us who failed and tried so desperately hard to reach a better outcome,” Tab added.
“I wish peace for everybody. I wish comfort for everybody who is hurting. And I pray we will all find that.”
ESTRANGED WIFE SPEAKS ABOUT THE SITUATION: IT WAS NOT ONLY PREDICTABLE, BUT PREVENTABLE
Meanwhile, on Saturday morning, a clip uploaded by New Zealand-based legal counsel Tudor Clee saw a woman named Efi, who introduced herself as the estranged wife of the ADMU Blue Eagles Coach.
“My name is Efi, and I have been married to Tab Baldwin since 2011. I am still legally married to him; however, in early 2020, I had to leave him—I had to flee away from Tab for the sake of myself and my kids to keep us safe,” she said at the beginning of the two-minute video.
She said that her statement is in response to his latest interview and his comments regarding his family. “I want to make it clear that he does not represent my children or me,” Efi added.
She then recalled that she had repeatedly told the management of the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) about Tab and warned that “children are not safe around him,” only to be met by what she described as a “campaign of intimidation and silencing.”
“At the time, I repeatedly told the Ateneo University that children are not safe around him, and it was their duty to remove him. I repeatedly informed Ateneo de Manila University that children were not safe around him, and I urged the university to take action and move him away from the campus, the university campus. They proceeded to launch a campaign of intimidation and silencing,” the woman continued.
She then sent a message to the Baterbonia and Adili families, especially to the mothers of the late players.
“For Rovelyn [Baterbonia] and Elias [Adili]—the deaths of your children were not only predictable but preventable,” she told them. “The bodies of your kids are still warm, and yet he is speaking about moving on. That is unacceptable and terrible.“
In the end, he urged Philippine authorities to continue its probe into the matter, especially Tab’s association with the team in spite of her message to the university.
“I am urging Filipinos, as well as the authorities and police there, to continue asking why he was still allowed around children in spite of these warnings,” she concluded her message.