The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) ordered an immediate and impartial inquiry into the deaths of Ateneo de Manila University student-athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili.
In a statement Wednesday, CHEd said the incident required a full review of the circumstances that led to the deaths of the two students.
The commission said it would seek the truth, determine accountability if warranted, and require measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
CHEd said it had begun fact-finding and accountability steps under its mandate to supervise higher education institutions and protect student welfare.
On June 9, CHEd’s National Capital Region office directed Ateneo to submit a detailed incident report and met with university officials to discuss the case.
Ateneo’s Crisis Management Team said the drowning happened on June 8 during an off-season team-building and training camp attended by 24 student-athletes and seven adult supervisors from the men’s basketball team.
During the meeting, the university presented its initial actions, while CHEd explained the administrative review process and asked for additional documents needed to assess the incident.
CHEd also joined a Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) panel to review policies on athletic training, team activities, and student-athlete welfare, while the Department of Justice separately ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to create a special team to investigate the deaths.
