No foul play. No hazing. No ankle weights on Rene Clert Baterbonia and Chukwuemeka Divine Adili when they drowned in the waters of Dipaculao, Aurora. But this doesn’t mean no accountability.
Two student-athletes of the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles Men’s Basketball Team were pulled out to sea by strong currents at a “team-building” activity led by Coach Thomas Anthony “Tab” Baldwin.
It was an accident. Well, no one is calling it a murder. But was there criminal negligence?
Criminal negligence occurs when a person acts with reckless disregard for risks to human life and safety. There is no intent to harm but the behavior is so reckless that the law punishes it like a deliberate crime.
There are four key elements of criminal negligence.
DUTY OF CARE. Coach Tab had a moral as well as legal obligation to protect the safety of the student-athletes during an activity he organized.
BREACH OF DUTY. Coach Tab did not just fail to protect Clert and Divine. He put them in harm’s way and as a result, both boys lost their lives.
GROSS DEVIATION. Coach Tab’s military-style boot-camp training was not standard athletic training according to Philippine Sports Commission Chair John Patrick “Pato” Gregorio and while water training is standard, it’s normally conducted in a controlled environment like a swimming pool.
Military-style training. Remote venue. Open sea. No life jackets. They had done it before. These were not mistakes. These were violations of standard safety rules.
FORSEEABLE HARM. Coach Tab had conducted this “deadly” boot camp at Aurora three times before. He was familiar with the treacherous waters and rip currents. It nearly claimed the life of an athlete in a previous boot camp.
The harm was not just forseeable.
It was known.
No one is accusing Coach Tab and his team of foul play or intention to harm. But it cannot be denied that they put these student-athletes in harm’s way which is the opposite of what they were supposed to do—protect them from harm.
These boys might have needed to go through physical and mental rigors to forge them into fierce Blue Eagles but their lives were not for their coaches to gamble with. You cannot win against the forces of nature when they cast their fury upon you.
It was reckless of Coach Tab to test the mettle of his athletes in this environment.
So, why?
Because the Bebob (Blue Eagles Band of Brothers) camp, though notoriously brutal and infamously dreaded, became a source of pride to the athletes and was believed to be instrumental in bringing to Ateneo the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball championship in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022.
The Bebob camp, according to Coach Tab, was inspired by legendary football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s boot camps whose core philosophy was to “break the men” and strip them of their individual egos so they would be forced to work together.
The camp’s physical and mental tasks were designed so no one would be able to survive or succeed on their own, forcing all to rely on their teammates. The element of danger was crucial. Isolation—physical, mental and psychological, was intentional.
The goal was brotherhood forged through isolation from everyone else. But at what cost? Ateneo’s duty to protect Rene and Divine was sacrosanct. Their deaths are a profound betrayal of trust.
Glory lies in winning a championship. But it also lies in stepping off the court to honor lives lost in pursuit of a championship. The best test of one’s mettle is in real life. Not in the open sea.
Fly down the hill, Blue Eagles.