Remulla Says Student Managers May Become Witnesses Instead of Respondents in Ateneo Drownings Case

Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on June 29 that student managers and utility personnel could be excluded from charges over the deaths of Ateneo Blue Eagles student-athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili.

The Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group recommended to the Department of Justice that 11 people face charges under Republic Act No. 11053, the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018.

Those named include resigned head coach Tab Baldwin, assistant coaches Jon Jacinto, Dean Castaño and Sandro Soriano, strength and conditioning coaches Grant Dearns and CJ Elumba, physical therapist Jerick Rueca, utility personnel Aris Pronce and Joel Rapa, and student managers Paolo Manuel Adevoso and Andrew Lorenzo Salud.

Remulla said the Department of Justice may instead treat the student managers and ball boys as witnesses. He noted that the presence of any person during hazing constitutes prima facie evidence of participation under the law, but added that some who attended the activity could be removed from the list if they were unaware of its wrongful intent.

The two student-athletes drowned during a team building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora, on June 8. Remulla said the seawater activity included elements of hazing, such as physical or psychological suffering, a prerequisite for admission or continuing membership, and forced calisthenics with exposure to weather.

He stated that Baldwin knew some players, including Adili, were non-swimmers yet proceeded with the activity.