THE ATENEO TRAGEDY | VERDICT
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
It all started with Dave Ildefonso's CIDG interview.
I know everyone wants justice for what happened and for the unnecessary deaths of Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili. I actually shied away from blogging about the incident, not because I don't want to, but because the information has been so complicated that I don't want to get my facts wrong.
Well, the thing about the Ateneo team-building tragedy is that it swept the country and Filipino communities across the globe by storm. Everyone wants to find the accountable party, and everyone will latch on to whatever breaking information comes out.
That said, you've got to have your facts straight.
And this is my problem with the whole Dave Ildefonso thing going to the CIDG. If you know basketball, you'll know that Ildefonso is one of the best professional players in the country who isn't in the PBA at the moment. He is also a second-generation baller whose dad, Danny, is one of the PBA's greatest players, with two consecutive MVP awards to show for it.
You'll know that Danny has two sons playing professional basketball right now. Aside from Dave Ildefonso, we have his elder brother, Shaun Ildefonso. Dave and Shaun also played for the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP under Coach Tab Baldwin, but at different eras.
Currently, both bros are playing in the MPBL for the Abra Weavers. While Dave is finishing his contract with the team, Shaun signed with the squad after being relegated to the PBA's unrestricted free agency. Rain or Shine simply had too many young players, and Shaun barely got any playing time with the team.
So, what's with my rambling?
Well, Shaun is the one who talked about the Aurora training in a podcast years before the accident took place.
Not Dave.
Yes, the CIDG got the wrong guy.
***** insert facepalm emoji here ****
The problem with the mix-up is not only that Dave never experienced the Aurora training, since he played for the Blue Eagles from 2020 to 2022, during which he won a UAAP title before leaving for the KBL, but also what happened to Shaun Ildefonso AFTER the 2016 training camp.
Maybe it was due to a lack of playing time or simply because he wanted to join the NU Bulldogs as a nod to his dad's college roots, but he left Ateneo for NU around late May 2017, in time to avoid their next boot camp ahead of UAAP Season 80.
In 2016, it was reported that Gboy Babilonia almost drowned, but there are now also reports that Chibueze Ikeh, Ateneo's foreign student-athlete from 2015 to 2017, suffered the same fate during that 2016 boot camp.
Ikeh is also Nigerian, just like Divine Adili.
And then, Junvic Remulla dropped a bombshell on Christian Esguerra's Facts First podcast, revealing that aside from those two, Aaron Black also almost drowned during one of Tab Baldwin's team-building activities.
Now, this is a fact worth noting because while Baldwin is a beast of a coach for Ateneo, Norman Black is just as important, if not more so. Before moving to the Meralco Bolts after the 2012 UAAP season, the PBA grand slam coach led the Blue Eagles to five consecutive UAAP championships.
When the coach heard about the incident, Black was obviously furious. Aaron Black would then see his playing time decrease during his final two seasons with Ateneo, prompting him to forgo his final year of eligibility and take his talents to the MPBL.
Again, maybe it was because of playing time, since Shaun left Ateneo after playing just one season, scoring no points and logging a total of only 10 minutes across five games. Still, he would have had a chance to break into the rotation in his second year with the team.
But then again, maybe the two chose to pack their bags and bolt for other opportunities because they didn't fit Baldwin's system.
But if you know your UAAP history, and the fact that Ateneo once had the likes of Cjay Perez and Arvin Tolentino around that time, along with Forthsky Padrigao and Mason Amos eventually leaving the school for other teams, and the fact that Ateneo has relied on one-and-done U.S. NCAA players for some time now, you can see a pattern.
Tab Baldwin does what he wants and couldn't care less about everything else.
While Dave had a successful college career with the Blue Eagles, earning him a ticket to play in Korea, all thanks to Coach Tab, I bet Shaun has no love lost when it comes to spilling tea about Tab Baldwin's coaching methods. This is why it sucks that a mix-up occurred, because Shaun didn't really hold back during the podcast conducted by Ranidel De Ocampo and GB Labrador, alongside former Ateneo and Rain or Shine teammate Anton Asistio.
But if there's one thing to take away from the Dave Ildefonso summons, it's that he stressed his relationship with Baldwin was purely professional. He gets to talk with the coach about basketball, but they never really had a connection outside of it.
Maybe calling it a factory of basketball zombies is too harsh a term, so I'll drop that thought.
But basically, Baldwin comes across as someone with major main character syndrome who thinks he's at war with everyone else.
There was one time when Tab Baldwin had beef with the PBA coaches, calling their methods immature. He famously cited Paul "Bear" Bryant as his inspiration. Bryant is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches in U.S. NCAA history. His style was defined by a mix of demanding discipline, relentless conditioning, and an unwavering belief in teamwork.
However, Bear was also known for throwing his weight around as if he were a coaching god, as he famously operated as a "homespun authoritarian." Bryant was also known for his punishing preseason camps, which were designed to break players down and mold them to his liking.
In some ways, I think this is the reason why Coach Tab would rather have college players during his stint as Gilas Pilipinas coach than PBA players. Kids are afraid to go against his orders because they fear it might hurt their professional careers. Meanwhile, I doubt he could do the same with grizzled veterans on multi-year contracts.
This is why, when the PNP-CIDG reached its conclusion, I thought they were spot-on in saying that what happened in Aurora was more like team hazing.
I was censoring myself when I first tried to write about this, but when I saw the apology Tab Baldwin gave, it felt rehearsed. The empty blue seats in the background made it feel like some YouTuber who didn't know any better thought that, after giving his statement, everything would be back to normal.
No, it won't.
The sentence that made me click on another video was when he said he treated Baterbonia and Adili like family. I get why he said that about Adili because he had been with the team for some time, but Baterbonia hadn't even been with the team for a week.
If you look at Baldwin's interactions with Rene's actual loved ones, it's like night and day. The amount of support given by the entire Agusan del Sur province, his Ateneo de Davao family, and the assistance currently being provided by several businesses and institutions to Rene's loved ones far outweighs what Baldwin and the people around him have given.
Again, Rene had only been with the team for barely a week before the incident. That said, what was priceless to others was simply wasted.
And don't get me started on Divine Adili. Yes, he's a foreigner, and of course, people will naturally sympathize with the hometown kid who just wanted to succeed. But Divine was still a blessing to his parents and was deeply loved by his friends. He was there while his parents could only mourn him from afar.
I bet that when he transferred from New Era to Ateneo, he thought he'd become the next Angelo Kouame, Bright Akhuetie, or Malick Diouf. Hell, if he had done well enough, he probably would have had a chance to play for Gilas as a naturalized player.
Yes, Baldwin could become the lifelong father figure they have at Ateneo, especially if they go on to have careers worth noting.
But just like Dave Ildefonso said, what he had with Baldwin was purely professional.
But that wasn't the case.
I mean, have you seen the Pia Hontiveros podcast in which Sam Reyes and Kieffer Alas described their drill? How about the town hall with Jared Bahay and Ian Espinosa? Forget the future. How about just surviving the present? They say they were lined up from the shore all the way to the deeper part of the water, where they had to jog at full speed.
The fact that this isn't a basketball-related drill is one thing, but going that deep into the ocean is another. Let's say Aurora isn't dangerous. What if a player in the deeper part suddenly got cramps or was bitten by something? Does that mean the rest of the team has to risk their lives to save their teammate?
Baterbonia and Adili, while they came from different parts of the world, both had dreams of lifting their families out of poverty. More than that, they were students on what was basically a field trip, just like the rest of their teammates.
The fact that his first thought was to call his sponsors instead of the school, and most importantly, the parents, just makes it seem like he was trying to cover his tracks.
Basically, Baldwin was the master, and everyone who didn't go into the water became his drill sergeants. And I know why people say he's one of the best coaches, but the dude is a psycho.
Now I get why his former partner suddenly came out and told everyone that he had warned the school that Baldwin couldn't be trusted with kids.
Basically, Coach Tab made the players jog, play a scrimmage, and then sent them into dangerous waters. And I guess his defense is that he chose a time of year when the tide was low?
No.
HELL NO.
That's sick, man.
Even if you had one lifeguard standing beside each player, they're still students whom their parents see as their pride and joy. Baldwin had no business putting them there in the first place.
And I understand why the players feel conflicted about surviving the ordeal. I mean, who wouldn't? And again, they are students. The trauma they suffered, the treatment they're currently receiving, and the possibility that their careers are now in question are already more than enough. The last thing they need is social media backlash.
What's unfair is that I get why they couldn't say anything to Baldwin, but apart from the assistant coaches, there were also student managers and utility personnel involved. I bet they don't have "Ateneo" money in their bank accounts.
What can a ball boy do to stop Baldwin? If the players can't speak up when their lives are on the line, then you can expect everyone else to simply follow his orders.
Yes, I am placing the blame on Tab Baldwin here. Again, he needs to win to maintain his standing as Ateneo coach.
But instead of becoming a hotbed for recruits, I can see their current prized acquisitions looking for playing opportunities elsewhere, as they may no longer be that keen on wearing their school colors while this situation continues to rage on.
Again, how can you boo Ateneo after all that happened to them? Also, how can they play their brand of basketball knowing that the fans are now watching them in a completely different light?
And I don't need to say anything else at this point because, to give all the grieving parties some measure of peace, everyone involved in the incident must have their day in court.
But here's the question: if Ateneo has severed its ties with the coach, then that leaves him with his sponsors. Ateneo is an academic institution that can bounce back from this in due time, but a brand like the MVP Foundation and its subsidiaries can suffer backlash, albeit financial losses, if it continues to be associated with someone in such a delicate situation.
I know Ateneo is at fault here, but I also believe they didn't know this was the kind of training Baldwin was conducting. And while the podcast interviews were funny when they first came to light, they now serve as evidence in a tragedy that could have been avoided.
Inasmuch as we can say that this is still about the tragedy, it has now also become a way to hold someone accountable.
Baldwin's character is now in the hot seat, and the tragedy in Aurora deserves justice.
Iyong nangyari sa Ateneo Blue Eagles Men's Basketball Team is a very sensitive topic for people to discuss these past couple of days just like the Tacloban school shooting that happened few days ago. Kahit may mga Ateneo basketball players nag come forward and shared there story, maraming tao galit sa team and sa school because they feel that it is taking a long time for families of Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili to get justice.
Kaya ko nasabi this is a very sensitive topic is because I asked a question on a person's Facebook post about the background of some people who were recommended to be charged for hazing because I do not know who they are or what…