The sister of Atenean student-athlete survivor Sam Reyes appealed to the public to refrain from attacking them online after he appeared on a podcast to share their side of the story following the June 8 drowning incident that claimed the lives of two of his teammates during a school-sanctioned team-building activity.
Alex Reyes, a trauma-informed coach, reminded Filipinos that it “has only been a week” since Sam and his teammates “went through a near-death experience” and “lost their brothers and had to deal with the shock.”
She added that it has only been a week since “they became survivors” and “since they started getting accusations and death threats online.”
Sam is among those who appeared in Pia Hontiveros‘ podcast on Tuesday, June 16, where he recounted the June 8 incident during their school-sanctioned team-building activity at Hermanos Leisure Farm in Aurora.
The incident claimed the lives of 18-year-old Rene Baterbonia, a new recruit from Agusan del Sur who was set to make his UAAP debut and 21-year-old Divine Adili, a Nigerian import who helped Ateneo get off to an impressive start in UAAP Season 88.
Sam and Kieffer Alas, two of their teammates, appeared on Hontiveros’ podcast to share their account of the incident and shed light on what happened amid public speculations.
The pair revealed that they were participating in a ten-minute water drill in thigh-deep water when the waves suddenly grew stronger.
As the tide receded, the sand beneath their feet gave away, pulling them into the deeper waters and eventually out to sea.
Sam also shared that the first responders at the scene merely “watched” as the incident unfolded, adding that he and his teammates had to carry Baterbonia themselves..
“When we saw Rene, it was us who carried him out the water, not the first responders. Wala pong tumulong. They were just spectating po. They were just watching us,” he said.
They also denied allegations of hazing and said no ankle weights were used during the activity, contrary to earlier speculation.
Both were likewise swept by the currents. Alas shared that he, Reyes, Baterbonia and Adili were among those carried the farthest by the waves, which came in three successive surges and scattered the entire team participating in the activity.
Sam also spoke about his feelings of guilt, saying he believed he “could have done more” to prevent Baterbonia from drowning.
“It’s eating me alive. It was killing us kasi we were there, and we lost two of our brothers. Sobrang sakit po na parang nabuhay nga po kami pero parang pinapatay po kami,” he said.
Alas expressed similar sentiments, describing the experience “like going to two deaths.”
“The first one is losing our teammate, then now being criticized for their deaths. We lost them. We witnessed what happened. Every social media person or anybody — they were just putting the blame on us,” he said.
Alex, meanwhile, responded to comments from some Filipinos who questioned why her brother and his teammate were only now coming forward to share their account of the incident.
“My question to you is, HOW would YOU have handled it if you were in their shoes? How would you have handled TRAUMA [AND] GRIEF as a 21-yr old basketball player?” she wrote on Facebook on Tuesday, June 16, referring to her brother.
“Would you have the emotional tools and language? Would you even know what ‘survivor’s guilt’ means before something tragic happens? Please stop attacking my brother and his teammates. They all were drowning and tried to save each other,” Alex added.
She also addressed Ateneo’s response to the incident, saying her brother and his teammates were likewise “being impacted” by the university’s “slow crisis management and apologies.”
“Let Ateneo’s silence and lack of accountability be separate, and be theirs alone as an institution. Because my brother and his brothers are also being impacted by Ateneo’s slow crisis management and apologies. If externally and indirectly, you are frustrated. Trust me, internally, the frustration is much worse,” Alex said.
“We grieve for the souls of Adili and Rene. And let’s also not forget the ones who SURVIVED and have the event playing in their heads over and over each night. They need your support too,” she added.
Ronald Cruz, a member of the Ateneo community, also condemned Filipinos who attacked Baterbonia and Adili’s teammates following the incident.
“They lost two teammates, their brothers. They watched them die. They are devastated and traumatized,” he said on Facebook.
“Hearing three players in the town hall meeting and two in the interview with Pia Hontiveros relate their experience, one (Sam Reyes) even blaming himself for not having done enough to save Rene (‘It’s eating me alive’), is heartrending,” Cruz added.
“No one should ever have that experience of feeling their lives almost slip away (Ian Espinosa admits to almost resigning to his fate before Tab and another coach managed to save him) and actually losing their friends in front of them,” he said.
Tab Baldwin, the Ateneo Blue Eagles head coach, and Epok Quimpo, the team’s manager, have already resigned from their posts following the incident.
Other Ateneo alumni, including Gretchen Ho and Rica Peralejo have also expressed disappointment with how the university has handled the situation so far.
School officials said that their initial silence on the incident was meant to respect the grieving families, adding that the university “chose direct, involved action for the families and the members of the team” instead of making public statements.
“The few public updates were not because we did not care for the bereaved families. We believe — and continue to believe — that public relations or institutional noise should not intrude upon a family’s grief,” Ateneo President Fr. Roberto Yap, SJ, said in a press conference.
“We are truly sorry for not being quick at informing the public of the developments, which has led to perceptions of inaction. We focus on being present for the grieving families in their darkest hour,” he added.
Fr. RB Hizon, SJ, director of Ateneo’s alumni affairs, also said that their priority was to offer condolences to the families, hence the delayed updates.
Yap had vowed to take action to prevent similar incidents, including establishing an independent fact-finding body to review the policies implemented for student-athletes.
