Ateneo vows ‘material support’ to Baterbonia, Adili families: Moral obligation, not settlement

MANILA, Philippines – Ateneo de Manila University president Fr. Bobby Yap on Monday, June 15, said the school will provide the families of Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili “material support” as he faced the media for the first time exactly a week since the two basketball players’ deaths.

The assistance, Yap said, is not a legal settlement but a moral obligation of the university. 

“While no amount of material support can ever compensate for the loss of a son, Ateneo has offered full assistance and support to the Adili and Baterbonia families to cover all financial, emotional, and long-term burdens arising from this tragedy,” Yap said. 

Baterbonia and Adili, who died from drowning on June 8 during the Blue Eagles’ team building in Dipaculao, Aurora, both pursued basketball with hopes of giving their families better lives, even leaving their homes at an early age. 

Hailing from Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, 18-year-old Baterbonia moved to Davao City a couple of years back, first attending Ananda Marga Special Academic Institution and then Ateneo de Davao Senior High School — stints that ultimately led to him being recruited by Ateneo de Manila.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Adili left Nigeria as a teenager and first saw action for New Era University in the juniors’ division of the National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities (NAASCU), leading the school to back-to-back championships, before he transferred to Ateneo de Manila and suited up for the Blue Eagles in the UAAP last year. 

Yap said Ateneo de Manila is in communication with the Baterbonia and Adili families.

“We will provide assistance, material assistance, to the families and we see that not as a form of legal settlement but that is really a form of our moral responsibility,” said Yap. 

“It would be an assistance that will cover a sort of a time that will really support them for their needs for a good period of time.” 

Yap said Ateneo de Manila reached out to the bereaved families to provide support “from day one,” noting that the school offered to shoulder the travel expenses of Baterbonia’s loved ones from Mindanao to Manila, although the family opted to accept the help extended by the Agusan del Sur government.

The school, Yap added, will cover every single expense related to the funeral services of the two players, including flying Adili’s family from Nigeria to the Philippines and back, as well as the repatriation of his body.

As of Monday, Baterbonia’s remains have been transported to Agusan del Sur after Ateneo de Davao held a three-day wake and public viewing for him that drew thousands of mourners.

In celebration of Baterbonia’s life, Ateneo de Davao offered his six siblings full scholarships from basic education to college, renamed the court of the Senior High School after him, and retired his jersey.

Adili’s body, meanwhile, lies at the Immaculate Conception Chapel inside the Ateneo de Manila campus in Katipunan, Quezon City. – Rappler.com