Was risking someone’s life a part of the test? It is sickeningly unfair that Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili suffered the ultimate consequence of neglect. This all happened because an adult coach failed to protect them—a duty that was his sole responsibility.

Ateneo prides itself on the Jesuit value of Cura Personalis—the care for the whole person. It is a philosophy that commands us to uplift, protect, and care for one another. If a basketball team is meant to be a brotherhood, this value should be its bedrock. By caring for your teammates, trust is formed, and collaboration is strengthened.

But does that rule only apply to students?

In fact, was it ever applied to Rene and Divine?

Team building should never alienate someone because they failed certain activities. Doing so creates unjust power dynamics, forcing the “losing team” to comply with penalties like serving the “winning team” their lunch. So, why did that happen to Rene Baterbonia? Reports indicate that the members of the losing team, which included Baterbonia, were punished by serving lunch to the members who “won.” The only lesson learned from that punishment is the existence of a hierarchy—that losing makes you unworthy to belong to something greater, and that those who fail must work harder just to be part of the team.

When this degradation is ignored, intentionally or not, it is only a matter of time before that disregard follows these young students into the water. Those punishments may mean little to someone who leads the team, but they grow into a huge indifference toward human life.

It makes you wonder: did that value, the so-called caring for others, truly come to mind when the choice was made to leave the safety of the resort?

When they were led 300 meters into a dangerous, unguarded sea, did that choice cement in their guts? Did this value even ignite a spark of guilt, or a lingering doubt, that perhaps that decision would ultimately lead to another death, and this time, it might be inevitable?

The location of where the incident occurred exposes the undeniable neglect. If this was a transparent, legitimate training session, why were the team members instructed to be farther away from the safe beachfront right in front of the resort? Was there even the faintest care toward that dreadful possibility? Perhaps not. Because it became reality.

According to the CIDG, the drowning of these two teenagers in the surging currents of Dipaculao, Aurora, is now being investigated as a possible case of hazing or homicide. The authorities have now begun acknowledging that the victims were endangered instead of being protected. Behind the scenes, no relationship was forming because there were only rifts cracking between them. Perhaps everyone neglected the victims and let that choice bloody their hands, for no care was ever fostered between them.

Whether it be hazing or homicide—both are the absolute worst, never at best.

Instead of acting with urgency and communicating with the families of Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili, the institution stayed silent. The parents found out about the tragedy not from the responsible staff members, but through browsing the internet. They heard nothing from the institution. Never from them. Instead of facing the law with accountability and explaining the situation to the victims’ loved ones, the coach and four others chose to send legal representatives to the investigation instead of appearing personally.

It is cowardice worn on their skin, audacity in their choices. Lawyers did not command those boys into the surging currents. Lawyers are not responsible for the deaths of two young players. A coach who takes charge of a team must also take charge of his mistakes. Instead of hiding away while legal representatives speak for him at the investigation, he makes it blatantly obvious that there was never any care toward others.

If "team building" is truly about fostering trust, communication, and collaboration, why were all of these aspects entirely absent when it mattered most? Real brotherhood protects its own until death; it does not let two die while the rest live. It does not run away and leave others to deal with the consequences of its mistakes.

Nothing is ever built when the foundation leaves two young students dead in the

water.

The Frontman