MANILA, Philippines – The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said that the deaths of Ateneo basketball players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili were “not an accident.”

Baterbonia and Adili died from drowning after being swept away by strong currents during the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ team-building activity on June 8 in Dipaculao, Aurora.

CIDG Director Major General Robert Alexander Morico II said during a press conference on Wednesday, June 17, that majority of the Ateneo men’s basketball team were in the waters, and were located about 700 meters away from the resort they had been staying at.

“Ang nakita doon (What you will see) is the condition of the sea during that time. That’s one. You won’t send somebody doon (there) on that condition,” Morico explained.

Morico also said that a few more members of the team had experienced ingesting water from the sea because of the strong currents.

“We’re trying to establish ‘yung positions nila sa lugar and who were swept away ng current. Some of them already experienced na makainom ng water, including [another] foreigner,” he said, adding that the sea’s conditions were too dangerous to swim in.

(We’re trying to establish their positions at the scene and who were swept away by the current. Some of them already experienced ingesting water, including another foreigner.)

Morico added that they will be able to get a clearer picture of the events that transpired during the team building once they get statements from the other individuals who were present.

The CIDG’s statement comes over a week after the Aurora police claimed that Baterbonia and Adili’s deaths were a “natural accident” — a conclusion Police Colonel Percival Pineda arrived at after speaking to others who were at the scene.

“Based on the statements we got from people who were with them, this incident was purely [an] accident. What happened was a natural accident,” Pineda said in Filipino. “At present, we’ve found no indication of foul play in this incident.”

Earlier Wednesday, multiple Ateneo men’s basketball team members also appeared before the CIDG and the National Bureau of Investigation to gather their statements as part of the two government agencies’ investigation. According to reports, players who appeared before the CIDG were those present at the team building, while those who appeared before the NBI included current and past members of the Ateneo men’s basketball team.

The CIDG, the Philippine National Police’s investigative arm, had also summoned the first responders present at the scene, following allegations that Adili still had a pulse when he was being rescued.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice issued an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) against the team’s former coach Tab Baldwin. The ILBO, however, cannot prevent Baldwin from leaving the country, as it is only used to monitor an individual’s movements.

Former team manager Christopher “Epok” Quimpo and assistant coaches Reynaldo Jacinto Jr., Dean Castaño, and Sandro Soriano were also placed under immigration lookout. – Rappler.com