Tab Baldwin makes his first public appearance after the drowning of two student-athletes.
Ateneo de Manila University men’s basketball head coach Tab Baldwin speaks about the “routine training run” that resulted in two deaths.
The deaths of Divine Adili and Rene Clert Baterbonia have created a loud buzz online. It was a tragedy that stole the supposed bright future of the members of the Blue Eagles basketball program. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has directed the NBI Central Office to create a special task force to carry out a full, exhaustive, and unbiased investigation into the deaths of the Ateneo basketball players.
Previously, the Ateneo de Manila University announced an independent fact-finding investigation into the deaths of the student-athletes, as several government agencies launched separate probes into the drowning incident.
Four days after the incident, ADMU men’s basketball head coach Tab Baldwin spoke and made his first public appearance. He then shared his account of the “routine training run” that unfortunately led to the deaths of the athletes.
“On that fateful day when we sent the players out for a routine training run in what we thought was shallow water, up to the moment when we realized that whatever had happened, they were in dangerous water, we did everything that we could as coaches,” Baldwin said in a pre-recorded video released by Ateneo on Friday evening.
“As people responsible for that situation, the players themselves did everything they could to ensure that everybody arrived back on shore safely. And then we realized that we hadn’t accomplished that,” he added.
According to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Aurora Provincial Office, the initial investigation pointed out that the incident was a “natural accident.” There were no traces of foul play found.
The 68-year-old American-Kiwi coach expressed that while he fell into the “darkest place imaginable,” he knew that the families of the players are in an “even darker, more horrible place.”
He felt that he had failed them. He is grieving and asked for forgiveness from the parents and families of Adili and Baterbonia.
Meanwhile, Baldwin, along with team manager Epok Quimpo, is on leave from their respective posts.
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