Tab Baldwin apologizes for Baterbonia, Adili deaths: ‘I failed’

MANILA, Philippines – Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin broke his silence on Friday, June 12, as he apologized for the deaths of his players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili, saying he “failed” as a leader and a friend.

Baterbonia, 18, and Adili, 21, drowned on Monday, June 8, during the Blue Eagles’ team building in Dipaculao, Aurora, supervised by the American-New Zealand mentor.

“As a coach, we are entrusted with the growth of our basketball players, the development of these young men into future professionals. But mostly, as a coach, I’m entrusted by you, the parents, and the families, with first and foremost, their well-being. And in this, I feel I failed. And I’m sorry,” said Baldwin in an eight-minute video posted by the school on its social media accounts. 

“To the depth of my being, I’m sorry.” 

Baldwin said he plunged into the “darkest place imaginable” when Baterbonia and Adili did not emerge from the water after being swept away by strong currents and later pronounced dead.

As heartbroken as he is, however, Baldwin acknowledged that his pain pales in comparison with the anguish the families of Baterbonia and Adili are experiencing. 

“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, 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,” Baldwin said. 

“And in that moment, I experienced the descent into the darkest place imaginable, and yet, I knew at the same time the good people, people that had done an amazing job raising these two young men, were going to be in an even darker, more horrible place. At that moment, I felt I had failed. I failed as a leader, I thought I had failed as a coach. I certainly felt like I had failed as a friend to Divine and Rene. And when later I faced the team to try to be a leader in that moment, I felt that I failed them too.”

“In being left behind, we are carrying immense sorrow, we’re carrying immense grief, we’re carrying immense remorse, but I’ve known since the moment that I was told that our boys had passed away, that no matter the magnitude of our grief, there are two families that experienced a loss that was so much greater than ours. And a loss that would stay with them in the most acute way with the remainder of their lives. Never again would Rene’s mother and father and family, never again would Divine’s family be able to talk to their sons, or touch their sons.” 

Baldwin said prayer is the only thing he has been clinging to, hoping that the families of Baterbonia and Adili find peace and comfort.

“I think that my voice in prayer is hoarse now but it will never be enough. So as we all try to move forward without Divine and Rene, I hope that in binding together as a community, as a basketball team, and as a nation, that we lean on the one place that will never let us down, and that’s our Lord,” he said.

“So deeply sorry. And I’m so deeply sorry to not just the families but everybody that feels let down. I pray that we all find some pathway forward to come back to hope for the future, love for one another, and forgiveness for those of us who failed and tried so desperately hard to reach a better outcome. I wish peace for everybody, I wish comfort for everybody who is hurting, and I pray that we will all find that.”

Baldwin, who has been coaching the Blue Eagles since 2015, is being summoned by the Department of Labor and Employment to present his valid Alien Employment Permit.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice received a request for the issuance of an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order against Baldwin. – Rappler.com