04/07/2026
JUSTICE FOR RENE AND DIVINE!!
We continue to seek justice for Rene Clert Baterbonia and Divine, two athletes whose lives were tragically lost during a team-building activity in Aurora.
The questions that remain deserve clear and honest answers. If the coaches and organizers were acting within the scope of their roles under Ateneo de Manila University, then the institution also has a responsibility to account for the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. Institutional accountability means ensuring that proper safety measures, supervision, risk assessment, and emergency protocols were in place, and if failures occurred, addressing them transparensively and responsibly.
Ateneo de Manila University has long been recognized for advocating justice, human rights, and accountability on important social and political issues. Those same principles should be upheld consistently within its own community. The pursuit of justice should not depend on who is involved or where an incident occurs.
The families of Rene Clert Baterbonia and Divine deserve truth, accountability, and justice. Their teammates, friends, and the wider community deserve confidence that every necessary step has been taken to determine what happened and to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.
This is not about assigning blame without due process. It is about ensuring that every individual and every institution with responsibility is held accountable through a fair, transparent, and thorough investigation. Justice for Rene. Justice for Divine. Their lives mattered, and their stories must not be forgotten.
