Interior Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla said four individuals included in the police charge recommendations over the deaths of Ateneo student-athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili may instead be removed as accused and used as state witnesses.
At a press briefing in Camp Crame on Monday, Remulla said the Department of Justice may consider turning two student managers and two ballboys into witnesses in the hazing case.
He identified them as student managers Paolo Manuel Maceda Adevoso and Andrew Lorenzo Bondoc Salud, and ballboys Aris Ramos Pronce and Joel Palmiano Rapa.
They were among 11 individuals the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group recommended for prosecution for alleged violation of the Anti-Hazing Act.
The others named in the recommendation were former Ateneo men’s basketball head coach Thomas Anthony Baldwin; strength and conditioning coaches Grant Dearns and Cesar Vincent Javellana Elumba; assistant coaches Dean Caesar Castaño, Sandro Nicholas Romero Soriano and Reynaldo Jacinto Jr.; and physical therapist John Eric Quiambao Rueca.
Remulla said the PNP included all 11 in the recommendation because the Anti-Hazing Act considers a person’s presence during hazing as prima facie evidence of participation as a principal.
“Under this law, the mere presence of any person during the hazing is prima facie evidence of participation as principal,” Remulla said.
Baterbonia and Adili drowned on June 8 during a team-building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora.
Remulla said some of those present may still be removed from the list of accused if investigators determine that they had no knowledge of any wrongful intent behind the activity.
“Although this was our recommendation, some participants in the activity may be removed from the list of those who should be charged, especially if it can be proven they are unaware of the bad intent,” Remulla said.
“The student managers and ball boys can be turned into witnesses, instead of accused, by the Department of Justice,” he added.
Remulla said the DILG and the PNP want accountability focused on those who allegedly planned the activity.
“That is why our recommendation is to charge the coaches of Ateneo men’s basketball team, especially its head coach Tab Baldwin,” Remulla said.
He also said the DOJ should examine the possible liability of Ateneo de Manila University under the anti-hazing law, citing the school’s responsibility to act in loco parentis, or in the place of a parent, over its students.
“The investigation must determine if they had shortcomings in preventing the activity that led to the death of two students and trauma to others who took part in the training,” Remulla said.
He said the other student-athletes who were present were not recommended for prosecution because authorities considered them victims of the violent training.