DOJ issues immigration lookout bulletin vs Tab Baldwin, Epok Quimpo, and others amid drowning probe
The Department of Justice has placed former Ateneo de Manila University basketball coach Tab Baldwin and former team manager Christopher "Epok" Quimpo under an immigration lookout bulletin order amid an ongoing investigation into the deaths of players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili following the team-building tragedy.
Acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida confirmed the issuance of the ILBO on Wednesday, June 17. Alongside Baldwin and Quimpo, assistant coaches Reynaldo Jacinto Jr., Dean Castaño, and Sandro Soriano were also included in the order.
An ILBO does not prevent a person from leaving the Philippines, but it alerts law enforcement agencies if they attempt to depart the country while the investigation is ongoing.
“The investigation remains ongoing, and the department stands ready to undertake its mandate once a complaint is formally filed,” Vida told the media.
“We ask the public to allow our law enforcement agencies to do their work and to refrain from speculation while the evidence is being gathered and assessed,” he added.
Baldwin and team manager Epok Quimpo have resigned from their posts. The two were a no-show before the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group's fact-finding investigation on June 15. Baldwin also failed to appear before the National Bureau of Investigation on June 16 because he was "not in good condition."
In a separate press conference, CIDG director Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico II said that their initial investigation shows that the untimely deaths of the student-athletes were not an accident.
He also urged Baldwin to take accountability and show up in proceedings.
"Man up. Be man enough to face the investigation in the interest of justice and equity para doon sa dalawang players, whom you call as your brothers,” Morico said.
"We are not denying the persons subpoenaed of the right to counsel or the right to be assisted by a counsel. They may assist their clients during the investigation, but to send merely their lawyers who are incompetent to provide accurate information precisely because they are absent in the area when the incident occurred will not help the resolution of this case,” Morico said.
“It will instead do injustice sa dalawang taong namatay, which, as of now, hindi pa nalilibing,” he added.
The CIDG is set to interview and issue subpoenas to 48 individuals as part of the probe. At present, it has already secured affidavits from 17 people.
Team-building tragedy
While participating in a team-building activity with the rest of their teammates at a resort in Dipaculao, Baterbonia and Adili were carried away by a rip current. They were found 30-40 minutes later. A physician at an Aurora hospital declared them dead on arrival.
Initial findings by the Aurora police have suggested the incident was purely accidental and ruled out foul play.
Multiple agencies have launched parallel investigations into the incident, including the Dipaculao local government, the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Philippine Sports Commission.
After days of silence, Baldwin expressed his remorse in the incident via a video statement, stressing that he's also feeling the magnitude of their loss. "Never again will I be able to help them develop into the basketball players they wanted to be, to help them grow into the young men that they promised that they could be," he said. "But that's insignificant compared to what their families are experiencing."
"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.
