'Their stories are not the same': Divine Adili's mother demands 'clear answers' from Ateneo after team-building tragedy
The mother of Divine Adili, one of the two players of the Ateneo Blue Eagles' men's basketball team who drowned on June 8, is appealing to Ateneo de Manila University to explain the circumstances surrounding her son's death.
"It's not easy for us. He's the only hope of this family. I need a clear answer from the Philippines, from Ateneo Blue Eagle, the coach that took them there," Ifeoma Adili, Divine's mother, said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.
"Please, I just need an answer. Let me know what happened to my son. Their stories are not the same," she added.
For now, the family is prioritizing bringing their son home and learning the truth about the circumstances of his death. According to Adili's mother, filing legal complaints against those who will be found accountable is not foremost in her mind.
“Three things I want Ateneo to do for me: One, tell me exactly what happened to my son. Secondly, they should do that right thing… Lastly, they should bring him back home,” she said.
While participating in a team-building activity with the rest of their teammates at a resort in Dipaculao, Aurora, Adili, 21, and Rene Baterbonia, 19, 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.
Although a subpoena was issued against the team's American-New Zealander head coach Tab Baldwin by the Department of Labor and Employment over his employment permit as a foreigner, the coach has kept silent since June 8. His first public appearance since the incident was at a community vigil for Adili and Baterbonia on June 11 inside the university campus.
In a statement released on June 11, AdMU President Fr. Roberto C. Yap SJ clarified Baldwin's silence was not by choice. The university requested the coach to refrain from making public statements "to allow the official processes to proceed and the facts to be established before any public discussion of the matter," Yap wrote.
Instead of speaking to the press, the university advised Baldwin to look after the welfare of the players, coaches, and staff, as well as his own.
"At a time when our priority was caring for those most directly affected, we believed it was neither appropriate nor helpful to ask Coach Baldwin to engage in public commentary while the community was mourning and while the circumstances surrounding the incident were still being examined," the statement continued.
Yap urged the public not to mistake Baldwin's silence for indifference.
"Rather, it reflects the University's decision to place care healing, and due process ahead of public discussion," Yap wrote.
Multiple agencies have launched parallel investigations into the incident, including the Dipaculao local government, Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Philippine Sports Commission.
