Officials of the Ateneo de Manila University basketball program, including head coach Tab Baldwin, have been subpoenaed by the Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) as part of an ongoing fact-finding investigation into the drowning incident involving two student-athletes in Dipaculao, Aurora.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla said on Monday that the summons issued to the team’s top officials forms part of efforts to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths of student-athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili, who died during a team-building activity on June 8.
Remulla clarified that the CIDG’s role is strictly investigatory at this stage, stressing that the process is not aimed at filing charges but at gathering facts and identifying accountability.
“We are not here to arrest, we are not here to charge, but merely to gather the facts,” Remulla said, adding that investigators are seeking to determine who approved the activity and how it was organized.
He described the probe as a fact-finding exercise rather than a fault-finding mission, noting that all relevant individuals will be asked to provide statements as authorities work to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the incident.