26/06/2026
I usually keep my personal thoughts off social media when it comes to the news, but the tragic drowning of student-athletes Rene Clert Baterbonia and Divine Adili in Dipaculao, Aurora hits incredibly close to home for me.
Rene Clert Baterbonia was a product of AMSAI Mindanao - Cabantian Campus. As a fellow graduate from the AMSAI school system and a member of the ANANDA MARGA community, this deeply hurts. It is agonizing to see the contrast between how a child is carefully and lovingly nurtured by the mentors within our community, only to have their life cut short during a university training activity.
Now that the official investigation details are coming out, I feel compelled to speak up. This is not about spreading hate or being toxic online, but because the facts layout serious, uncomfortable questions about student welfare and the emergency rescue itself.
According to the preliminary findings shared by the authorities, the schedule these young men were put through was exhausting. They were awakened as early as 4:00 AM for a 4-kilometer run, followed by rigid physical games. By 2:00 PM, they were subjected to water-based training that directly coincided with peak high tide. Strong, unpredictable waves ultimately pulled them offshore, leading to the double drowning. To push anyone to that level of physical exhaustion and then put them in the water during high tide raises massive red flags about where training ends and real endangerment begins.
But what happens after they were pulled from the water is just as concerning.
In her official public statements, Dipaculao MDRRMO rescue team leader Angel Librero openly addressed her actions on the shore. She stated that when the victims were recovered, a companion was actively performing CPR. However, she explicitly ordered that CPR to be paused. Her explanation was that the victims were highly unstable, so she decided to stop chest compressions on the beach to immediately prioritize transporting them to the hospital, which was 10 to 15 minutes away, intending to manage first aid while the vehicle was moving.
While she framed this as a tactical choice to rush them to a hospital, it fundamentally contradicts standard medical logic and universally established water-rescue protocols.
In standard emergency medicine, immediate, continuous, and uninterrupted CPR is the absolute cornerstone of treating near-drowning victims who are unconscious and not breathing. Because drowning starves the brain of oxygen, any gap or pause in chest compressions severely compromises the chances of survival. The argument that CPR has to be stopped to facilitate transport remains a deeply concerning flaw in how this rescue was executed. Did the emergency response actually match the unyielding, rigorous standard required to save a human life?
With the DILG Philippines and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group moving forward with recommendations for criminal charges under the Anti-Hazing Act against multiple personalities involved, the legal side of this will be decided in court.
I am writing this simply because every single life has value. Safety and emergency protocols exist for a single, non-negotiable reason, which is to protect human life. The full truth needs to come out, and we must demand a system where our youth are actually protected and kept safe. No more families should ever have to endure this kind of grief.
Watch the full report and official statements here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17fo4p7a2v/