MORE TAB TROUBLE

Okay. So something happened in the Ateneo tragedy again, which is kind of positive, in my opinion, because I highly doubt a ball boy or a student manager could influence the coaching staff enough to push the players into the depths of the sea.

According to DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla, the utility staff may be spared from liability if they didn't have a say in how the coaching staff conducted the boot camp. Yes, they could have said no, but honestly, what exactly could they have done if Tab Baldwin was that adamant about pushing through with the training? Again, I doubt these ball boys, or even the student managers for that matter, have the money or influence to do otherwise.

He also hinted that they may even serve as witnesses, which is likely the case now that it has come to the point where those involved are turning on one another.

The main culprit will always be Baldwin in my eyes, but I still think even the coaches were merely pawns in his plans.

That said, Remulla also hinted that the Ateneo institution itself may also bear responsibility, citing that as the "second parents" of every student in their school, they have a moral obligation to keep them safe. I think everyone knows that their lack of awareness about the training was the foremost reason why the incident happened in the first place. Had they known their players, or rather their student-athletes, with emphasis on the word "student," were being subjected to such an extreme training regimen, I highly doubt they would have approved of the trip.

But going back to Baldwin, he also had a meeting with DOLE, where he admitted that he doesn't have a work permit, which is crazy considering that he has been in the country for a decade. I know I'm lazy and may have a couple of incomplete forms, whether online or otherwise, every year, but this is the very document that's supposed to protect him in situations like these.

To break into Tagalog here, ang lakas ng loob niyang mag-magaling sa training, auto-kulong naman pala siya kapag may mangyaring masama.

In the current American landscape, it's like a Filipino without a work permit driving recklessly in a Republican state.

Again, they, both the school and its sponsor, gave Baldwin too much power.

Now everyone around him has been pulled into that negative vortex.

Anyway, I guess the adults in the room should have known better than to follow Baldwin's whims. But the more important thing is that the right verdict must be reached to give justice to the deaths of Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili.