Tab Baldwin: Ex-Tall Blacks coach says he ‘failed’ players who drowned in Philippines

Former Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin has broken his silence on the deaths of two of his Filipino college basketball players, saying “we sent the players” on a “routine training run” into what coaches believed was shallow water before the pair drowned.

Ateneo Blue Eagles players, Divine Adili, 21, and Rene Baterbonia, 19, drowned during a team-building swimming exercise in Dipaculao, Aurora, northeast of Manila, last Monday.

Baldwin gave his account of what happened in a pre-recorded message posted to Ateneo de Manila University’s social media.

He said staff sent players into what they thought was shallow water, but as soon as “we realised ... they were in dangerous water”, coaches and players did everything to try to get everyone back safely.

When it became clear “we hadn’t accomplished that”, Baldwin said he descended “into the darkest place imaginable”.

“I failed as a leader. I felt I had failed as a coach. I certainly felt I had failed as a friend to Divine and Rene.

“As a coach, I’m entrusted by you, the parents and the families, with first and foremost their wellbeing. And in this I feel I’ve failed. And I’m sorry, to the depth of my being, I’m sorry.”

The drownings have shocked the Philippines, prompting an outpouring of grief and widespread calls for accountability, with President Ferdinand Marcos jnr calling for an “immediate investigation”.

Baldwin’s comments appeared to confirm he was present when the players were swept away — describing himself as among the “people responsible for that situation” — something that had been unclear.

The American-Kiwi coach, who has been placed on leave by the Ateneo de Manila University and earlier asked to refrain from public statements, has been subpoenaed by the Philippines Department of Labour.

He is due to appear before Labour Secretary Francis Tolentino on Monday to present proof of his work permit and detail the nature of the fatal training camp.

“No foreign national working in this country is above the law,” Tolentino said this week. “The family of Rene and Divine deserves answers, and they deserve accountability.”

The university has said the team was doing a “knee-deep exercise” near the shoreline when players were “suddenly engulfed by massive waves and a powerful rip current”. Most fought their way back to safety, but Adili and Baterbonia were pulled away.

“On that fateful day ... we sent the players out for a routine training run in what we thought was shallow water, up to the moment when we realised that, whatever had happened, they were in dangerous water,” Baldwin said in his message.

“We did everything that we could, as coaches, as people responsible for that situation. The players themselves did everything they could to ensure that everybody arrived back on shore safely.”

Baldwin told the families his own grief could not compare with theirs.

“Never again would I be able to help them develop into the basketball players they wanted to be, to help them grow into the young men that they promised that they could be. But that’s insignificant compared to what your families are experiencing,” he said while seated in what looked like a basketball stadium.

“Never again would Rene’s mother and father and family, never again would Divine’s family be able to talk to their son, or touch their son.”

Baldwin said he could “speak for hours” about the pair but had been asked to limit his comments.

“They’re gone, and we are left behind. And being left behind, we are carrying immense sorrow. We’re carrying immense grief. We’re carrying immense remorse.”

He apologised to “not just the families, but everybody that feels let down, somehow betrayed”.

“I pray that we all find some pathway forward, to come back to hope for the future, love for one another, and forgiveness for those of us who failed and tried so desperately hard to reach a better outcome.”

Baldwin’s military-style bootcamp featuring 3am sirens, confiscated cellphones and non-swimmers made to do drills in the sea.

Baldwin himself said in 2017, the camps were designed to “break the men”.

“If they had told us about this kind of training, I would never have allowed my son to go,” Baterbonia’s mother Rovelyn said this week. “My child is not a soldier. Basketball training should be in the court, not in the sea.”

The university has categorically denied social media claims that players trained with ankle weights in the sea, and local authorities have ruled out foul play, describing the deaths as “purely accidental”.

A lawyer acting for the Baterbonia family, who is seeking an order preventing Baldwin from leaving the country, has said: “We are not saying that he has any liability here.”

The Department of Justice is investigating the deaths, while a separate inquiry into the university’s athletic programme and its safety standards is under way.

Baldwin, who coached the Tall Blacks to a historic fourth place at the 2002 world championships was also inducted into the NZ Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.