MANILA. Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin was absent as the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) launched a fact-finding investigation on Monday, June 15, 2026, into the drowning deaths of student-athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla told reporters that of the five top management members of the Ateneo men's basketball team who received subpoenas, only athletics director Em Fernandez appeared in person before the CIDG.
“Well, they send their lawyers. It is their right to do so. That is their right, so it’s okay,” Remulla said.
Remulla added that the CIDG will issue another subpoena covering the players involved in the team building activity in Aurora province on June 8, which led to the drowning deaths of Baterbonia and Adili.
“Last week, the events unfolded were mostly a fault-finding exercise. Today is a fact-finding exercise. We’re not here to arrest, to charge, but merely to gather the facts. We will just gather what really happened, who authorized, how they went, who ordered—we will get all that. We will give results in due time,” he said.
In a video message days after the incident, Baldwin apologized, admitting his fault as head of the team.
“On that fateful day when we sent the players out for a routine training run and what we thought was shallow water, up to the moment when we realized that whatever had happened, they were in dangerous water. We did everything that we could as coaches, as people responsible for that situation,” he said.
“The players themselves did everything they could to ensure that everybody arrived back on shore safely. And then we realized that we hadn't accomplished that,” he added.
Over the weekend, Efi Kalogirou, Baldwin's estranged wife, spoke out following the deaths. She claimed she had previously warned Ateneo officials about concerns involving Baldwin and called for accountability.
“At the time, I repeatedly told the University that children are not safe around him and it was their duty to remove him. I urged them to move him away from the campus, and they proceeded to launch a campaign of intimidation and silencing,” she said.
She described the incident as “predictable and preventable” and urged authorities to conduct a thorough investigation. Kalogirou said she married Baldwin in 2011 but escaped with her children in 2020 for their safety.
Baldwin also did not respond to a summons from the Department of Labor and Employment.
