Alas, Reyes burdened by blame for Baterbonia, Adili deaths: ‘We experienced the trauma as well’

MANILA, Philippines – The rest of the Ateneo Blue Eagles not only lost their two “brothers” — they also lived through the harrowing experience of believing they were about to die. 

So the likes of Kieffer Alas and Sam Reyes asked for understanding and compassion as they continue to bear the brunt of public outrage over the deaths of their teammates Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili.

Telling their side of the story on the Let’s Talk with Pia Hontiveros podcast, Alas and Reyes said they also faced death during the Blue Eagles’ team-building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora, that claimed the lives of Baterbonia and Adili on June 8. 

“It’s like going through two deaths. The first one is losing our two teammates, then now being criticized for their deaths. We lost them. We witnessed what happened. I don’t know. Every social media person, anybody, they’re just putting the blame on us. It’s just hard to put into words,” said Alas.

Unverified information online has fueled varying speculations on the two players’ deaths.

A narrative amplified on social media is that Baterbonia, an Agusan del Sur native and a pride of Davao Region, was subjected to hazing by his teammates because they were threatened about being upstaged by a player from Mindanao. 

That assumption has resulted in Alas and Reyes receiving death threats. 

“It’s just hard that people are commenting that we’re just jealous. We did it because we’re jealous. It’s just killing us because we were there, we lost two of our brothers. It hurts. We may have survived, but it feels like we’re being killed,” said Reyes. 

Baterbonia’s death came just a couple of days after he moved to the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Katipunan, Quezon City.

During that short span, Reyes said the team openly welcomed Baterbonia.

“I just want to say that those people who commented that we hated and we didn’t accept Rene, we were open arms to Rene. Personally, I wanted to know him better because during those days, we were having fun,” said Reyes. 

Alas said he even looked forward to playing with Baterbonia in the National Basketball Training Center League held in March, identifying the Ateneo de Davao standout as the big man he wanted to team up with when he was being recruited by the Phenom Blue Fire.

They ended up playing for different teams as Baterbonia saw action for the Davao Off Campus Residences.

“It’s just too much. I’ve only turned 19. I didn’t think I’d be experiencing this,” said Alas. 

Alas and Reyes admitted they were initially hesitant to speak out as they were still coming to terms with the loss of Baterbonia and Adili. However, they felt the need to shed light on the incident after seeing how it had been distorted, partly due to the lack of information released by Ateneo.

Now-resigned Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin released a video statement just last June 12, while Ateneo president Fr. Roberto Yap faced the media for the first time a week after the incident on June 15. 

“I feel like the speculations and the rumors and threats and hate towards us players [were] due to maybe not enough information. It just made them guess from all the photos, and pictures, and hearsay. I think that’s what caused this,” said Alas. 

Reyes revealed that he is struggling with profound survivor’s guilt as he was beside Baterbonia during the activity when a series of waves scattered the players away from the shore. 

“I felt like I could have done more for him to not drown. It was eating me alive that there were times that I was just awake,” said Reyes. 

If and when the Blue Eagles return to action, Alas and Reyes plan to dedicate their games to Baterbonia and Adili. 

“I hope you guys know that it was really hard for us to speak up. I hope you guys understand where we come from. We experienced the trauma as well. I just hope you guys understand,” said Alas. – Rappler.com