FOR Rene and Divine.
If Ateneo players would have it their way, they would want to share their stories on what they all went through and, if allowed, honor gone-too-soon teammates Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili by representing them on the UAAP court.
"The [athletes] want to tell the story, [and] to continue playing. This is who they are," shared Benjamin Gerardo T. Tolosa, Jr., the University's Vice President for Mission Integration, during the Ateneo Town Hall on Tuesday, as reported by The Guidon.
"Kung mag-withdraw [ang Ateneo sa] UAAP, double jeopardy yun sa amin [players]. Any decision you will make, kailangan kasama kami."
Neither Ateneo nor the UAAP have made a decision regarding the Blue Eagles' participation in this upcoming Season 89, following their doomed team-building in Dipaculao, Aurora last week.
Players' pain
Consequently, Jared Bahay, Ian Espinosa, and Andrew Bongo also faced the community to tell their tales, stressing that the activity required them to jog in the water near the shore.
READ: Kieffer Alas finally gives firsthand account on Ateneo tragedy
Before that, however, they were all asked whether or not they knew how to swim - to which Adili said he did not, while Baterbonia did.
"The waves came and we didn’t know that we were being pulled farther. The coaches started telling us to move along to the shallow part," said Bahay.
But as they said, rip currents pulled the players into deeper waters forcing them to swim back to the shore. Understandably, some started to panic.
That was when they heard screams of help from teammates, among them Baterbonia and Kyle Gamber, as they all tried to rescue one another.
Bahay added that EJ Kapihe tried to save Adili "as much as he could, trying to bring his body back to the shore, but Divine was already unconscious."
The players had to deal with the shock of the situation, as everything happened so fast with Bahay going back to the waters to help in rescuing their peers.
When everyone was accounted for, the team tried to do CPR on Baterbonia and Adili until rescuers got them in an ambulance, where head coach Tab Baldwin accompanied the two.
The team was then kept up to date by assistant coach Jon Jacinto, as they were given back their phones to tell their parents of the situation.
Ateneo has since given a directive from the University Athletics Office that all off-campus activities have been suspended until further notice.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
