MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino Jesuit university is facing government scrutiny and intense backlash from within after two student-athletes died by drowning during a team-building activity. 

Ateneo de Manila University, one of the country’s most prestigious schools, confirmed the deaths of 19-year-old Filipino student Rene Clert Baterbonia and 21-year-old Nigerian student Chukwuemeka Divine Adili at a training camp in Aurora province on June 8.

The team-building exercise took place in Aurora’s Dipaculao town, a popular surfing spot facing the Pacific Ocean and known for treacherous waves.

In a statement on Thursday, Ateneo president Father Roberto Yap SJ said Baterbonia and Adili drowned when the basketball team was “suddenly engulfed by massive waves and a powerful rip current.” He said the tragedy happened during a conditioning exercise in knee-deep water, contradicting speculations that they went farther from the shore.

Yap denied viral social media rumors that coaches forced the athletes to swim with ankle weights – an activity that critics compared to hazing.

Given the gravity of the case, Yap said Ateneo’s 15-member board of trustees, which includes eight Jesuit priests, ordered a thorough investigation.

He added that head coach Thomas Anthony “Tab” Baldwin and team manager Christopher Quimpo went on leave “to preserve the total integrity, independence, and fairness” of the fact-finding inquiry.

The Jesuit university said it “is cooperating fully, transparently, and without reservation” with all government investigations.

Multiple government agencies, including the country’s premier detective bureau, have launched investigations to determine if cases can be filed against the persons involved. Even the labor department has summoned Coach Baldwin, an American-New Zealander, to present proof that he can work in the Philippines.

Faculty’s open letter

However, pressure came not only from the government.

Hundreds of students, faculty, and alumni also called out their alma mater for its alleged lack of transparency, compassion, and social justice. These have long been considered hallmarks of Ateneo, a 167-year-old Jesuit school that has produced at least four Philippine presidents and four Catholic cardinals, including Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.

In particular, the school community criticized their leaders for allegedly dodging critical questions, refusing to hold people accountable, and failing to show empathy to the victims’ families.

Critics also pointed out that four days after the tragedy occurred on Monday, no school representative had yet been seen personally apologizing and taking responsibility.

An open letter on Thursday, signed by over 500 faculty members, brought up such shortcomings before the Ateneo president.

In their two-page letter to Father Yap, the teachers sought “greater clarity and transparency” regarding the safety protocols during the team building, the steps taken to support the victims’ families, and “concrete measures of accountability” to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

They also appealed “for sincere and humane expressions of apology, empathy, and compassion from the university leaders and coaching staff.” They criticized the university for “the nameless, faceless, and sterile social media posts” that “have downplayed the gravity of the situation and the accountability of the university.”

“We appeal for the University administration and coaching staff to come forward – in person – with humility and acknowledgment of wrongdoing and lapses in judgment, risk mitigation, communication, and most especially, care for our students,” the Ateneo faculty members said.

Beyond the teaching staff, about 2,000 concerned members of the Ateneo community – including students and alumni — signed a similar open letter to the university administration.

The university has not publicly responded to these open letters as of Friday, but the Philippine province of the Society of Jesus released its own statement addressing criticism.

Jesuit provincial’s admission

The head of the Philippine Jesuits, Father Xavier Olin SJ, said on Friday that their province is “heartbroken over the tragic incident,” yet they “trust in the capacities of our institutions to respond to the tragedy.”

However, Olin said that “when we listen to the gut reactions of grief and anger coming from so many, we humbly acknowledge more could have been done in the way the tragedy has been dealt with and communicated.”

Olin noted that their communities, especially their alumni, have reminded the Jesuits in recent days about “the Ignatian and moral principles we have passionately taught in our schools, like cura personalis or care for the individual person, compassion, social justice, truth, accountability, and solidarity.”

“We are grateful for these reminders and for the call to greater fidelity whenever we fall short,” he said. “We do not always live these ideals perfectly, but we strive to be faithful to them.”

Olin, who sits on Ateneo’s board of trustees, assured the public “that we will exert everything in our power to do what is right, what is just, and what is loving for our beloved students Rene and Divine, and their families.”

Two hours after the Jesuit provincial released this statement, Ateneo uploaded an eight-minute video message from Baldwin. A day earlier, the Ateneo president said the coach had been silent for days, upon the university’s request, “to allow the official processes to proceed and the facts to be established before any public discussion of the matter.”

In the video, Baldwin apologized for the tragedy, telling the players’ families that he failed to ensure their well-being. “I felt I had failed. I failed as a leader, I failed as a coach. I certainly felt like I have failed as a friend to Divine and Rene. And when, later, I faced the team to try to be a leader at that moment, I felt that I failed them, too.”

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