ATENEO de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles coach Tab Baldwin did not show up as the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) started on Monday, June 15, 2026, the fact-finding exercise related to the drowning deaths of student-athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili.
In an interview with reporters, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said out of the five members of the top management of the Ateneo de Manila University Men's basketball team who were issued with subpoena, only Ateneo de Manila University athletics director Em Fernandez personally appeared before the CIDG.
“Well, they send their lawyers. It is their right to do so. Karapatan nila yun, so okay lang,” he said.
Remulla said another subpoena will be issued by the CIDG covering the players involved in the team’s team building activity in Aurora province on June 8 that resulted in the drowning death of Baterbonia and Adili.
“Last week, the events unfolded were mostly a fault-finding exercise. Today is a fact-finding exercise. We’re not here to arrest, to charge, but merely to gather the facts. Kukunin lang natin talaga kung anong nangyare, kung sino nag-authorize, kung paano sila pumunta, sino mag-order, lahat kukunin namin yan. We will give results in due time,” he added.
Baldwin, in a video message days after the incident, apologized for the incident, admitting his fault as the head of the team.
“On that fateful day when we sent the players out for a routine training run and 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, as people responsible for that situation,” he said.
“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.
Over the weekend, Efi Kalogirou, the estranged wife of Baldwin, publicly spoke out following the deaths of the student-athletes.
Kalogirou claimed that she had previously warned officials of Ateneo de Manila University about concerns involving Baldwin and called for accountability in the wake of the tragedy.
“At the time, I repeatedly told the University that children are not safe around him and it was their duty to remove him. I urged them to move him away from the campus, and they proceeded to launch a campaign of intimidation and silencing,” she said.
She said the incident is “predictable and preventable” and urged authorities to conduct a thorough investigation.
Kalogirou said she married Baldwin in 2011 but she said she along with her children escaped in 2020 for their safety.
Baldwin also did not heed to the summons of the Department of Labor and Employment. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)