Metro Manila, Philippines – Ateneo de Manila men’s basketball team head coach Tab Baldwin voiced remorse over the death of his two players.
“I feel I’ve failed” he said in his first public statement on the deaths of Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili during a team training boot camp in Dipaculao, Aurora.
In a video posted on social media, Baldwin acknowledged the immense grief.
“As a coach, we are entrusted with the growth of our basketball players, the development of these young men into future professionals. But mostly, as a coach, I’m entrusted by you, the parents, and the families, with first and foremost, their well-being. And in this, I feel I’ve failed,” said Baldwin
“And I’m sorry. To the depth of my being, I’m sorry,” he added.
Baldwin said that while the Ateneo community mourns the athletes, he said he recognized that the pain of the families was far greater.
“I’ve known since the moment that I was told that our boys had 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,” he said.
The longtime Ateneo coach recounted the events leading to the incident, describing the activity as a “routine training run” in what they believed to be shallow water.
“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 had happened, they were in dangerous water, and we did everything that we could as coaches, as people responsible for that situation,” Baldwin said.
“The players themselves did everything they could to ensure that everybody arrived back on shore safely. And then we realized that we hadn’t accomplished that,” he added.
Baldwin admitted that the tragedy left him questioning his role as coach.
“At that moment, I felt I had failed. I failed as a leader. I felt I had failed as a coach. I certainly felt like I had failed as a friend to Divine and Rene,” he said.
Baldwin is the subject of an immigration lookout bulletin order.
Baterbonia and Adili died on June 8.
