Metro Manila, Philippines – Rene Baterbonia was buried on Wednesday, June 24, over two weeks after he drowned during a university men’s basketball team building event in Dipaculao, Aurora.
Fellow student athlete Divine Adili also drowned. He has been sent back to his family in Nigeria.
Their deaths triggered calls for more protection for student athletes and institutional accountability.
Baterbonia was buried at the Barangay Labnig Memorial Cemetery in Talacogon, his hometown in Agusan del Sur.
The municipal government of Talacogon declared June 8 of every year as “Rene Baterbonia Day” in honor of the Ateneo de Manila University athlete.
Meanwhile, the school is observing a 40-day mourning for Baterbonia and Adili that began June 8.
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