Baterbonia home in Talacogon after an 18-hour travel from Davao City
TALACOGON, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 16 June 2026) — Eighteen-year-old Rene Clert “Bobet” Baterbonia was expected to be home in Talacogon town between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Monday but the funeral convoy arrived at the municipal gym here at 1:40 a.m. on Tuesday, after an 18-hour travel from Davao City, including a five-hour stop at a funeral parlor in neighboring Panabo City.
Crowds gathered along the national highway from Davao to Agusan, under extreme heat or heavy downpour, sometimes leaving only one lane for the convoy to pass while chanting “MVP! MVP!” and “Hustisya! Hustisya!” Several mothers and grandmothers were seen breaking into tears.
The transport of Baterbonia’s remains from Davao to Agusan via the Maharlika Highway made history as it drew massive crowds of mothers and fathers, grandparents, adults, teeners, and children from all sectors and social classes, along the 246-kilometer journey home. As his mother, Rovelyn, later described it, “gikan one year old hangtod 90 years old” (from one year old to 90 years old).
Davao City to Talacogon is a five-hour travel on ordinary days.
But Baterbonia was not just the Blue Knights basketball player at the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) who was recruited into the Blue Eagles team of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), or the Palarong Pambansa 2025 Most Valuable Player (MVP). The outpouring of grief, rage, support and sympathy nationwide, during the wake in Davao City and along the road from Davao to Agusan, has made him everybody’s son and brother, their very own MVP.
ADDU President Fr. Karel San Juan led the send-off rites for Baterbonia from the Senior High School campus’ Christ the King Chapel to the covered courts that will be named RBBCC for Rene “Bobet” Baterbonia Covered Courts. San Juan gave the final blessings there before sending off ADDUs’ Blue Knight to his Talacogon home.
At least 23,000 residents in the city and neighboring areas queued at the ADDU SHS from Friday to Sunday to pay their respects to the young basketball icon whose dreams of a better life for his family led him to the Ateneo de Manila University, arriving there on June 4 as an incoming freshman and new recruit of the Ateneo Blue Eagles. Four days later, he drowned in a “team building” activity.
Slowed down by crowds
From Davao City, the funeral convoy arrived at the St. Peter’s funeral home in Panabo City at 9 a.m. for services for Baterbonia’s remains, leaving there at 1:50 p.m.
From Panabo to Tagum City in Davao del Norte, to Mawab, Nabunturan, Montevista and Monkayo in Davao de Oro, the convoy reached Trento in Agusan del Sur at around 6:30 p.m. Panabo to Trento would have taken less than 2.5 hours.
The crowds that gathered along the highway slowed down the convoy. Social media posts alerted everyone along the route.
A number brought tarpaulins, balloons, flowers, messages of “MVP” or “Hustisya” printed on paper or cloth. Many wore or waved Baterbonia’s jerseys. Outside the Visayan Village Central Elementary School in Tagum City, students cheered “MVP! MVP!” while the school band played.
All local governments along the way also welcomed the convoy through huge tarpaulins or LED walls displayed with expressions of condolences and pride for the young athlete. Several towns honored him with a water salute.
Many waited for hours.
“Idol namo”
In Trento, Agusan del Sur, at the boundary with Monkayo in Davao de Oro, residents told MindaNews shortly before 5 p.m. they waited since morning even if all they could see was just a white funeral car carrying Baterbonia’s remains.
But the players of Purok Cinco Basketball League in Sitio Maitum, Barangay Langkilaan, aged 12 to 14, didn’t mind the long wait to pay their respects to Baterbonia. “Idol namo” (our idol), said Paul Jake, Joshua, Zanjay-Art, Kheanne and Brian.
A few meters away, 50-year-old Jenilisa Servicio, mother of seven, said she does not know Baterbonia but she knows how Baterbonia’s mother, Rovelyn, feels. She said Baterbonia was different from other young boys because “ang iyang pamilya gyud ang focus sa iyang pagpaningkamot” (his family was the focus of his hard work).
Sitting on a bench outside a sari-sari store nearby, Nanay Sylvia Plaza Anasco, who is turning 79 in November, said she cries every time she sees reports on TV about Baterbonia’s death.
“Nadungog mi entero Luzon, Visayas ug Mindanao”
The convoy made a quick stop at the Bunawan legislative hall and at the gym at the Provincial Capitol Compound in Patin-ay, Prosperidad town.
Baterbonia’s mother, speaking briefly at the entrance, said she could not thank everyone but “murag niduot gyud sa ako nga gikan sa one year old hangtod 90 years old, nagduyog sa amoa. Daghang salamat kay bisan tuod ana lang ang among kuan, nadungog pud mi entero Luzon, Visayas ug Mindanao… Salamat sa tanan, sa mga tabang. Dili mabayran tanan” (I’m really touched that people from one year old to 90 years old share our grief. Thank you so much because even if we’re just like this, our voice has been heard in the entire Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao… Thanks for everything, the help. It’s all priceless.)
In Talacogon, in the barangays the convoy passed, residents turned up along the highway, too, even if it was past 1 a.m., although the number may have been likely more had the convoy passed earlier.
The convoy arrived at the gym in Barangay San Agustin at 1:40 a.m. on Tuesday, June 16. Public viewing begins at 1 p.m. on Tuesday but the local government had earlier announced the “entire wake” will be livestreamed.
The wake is until June 23. Baterbonia will be laid to rest on June 24.
The son of Talacogon is back home in “Baterbonia Country,” as his townmates had referred to the municipality when he made history as Palarong Pambansa 2025 Most Valuable Player. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
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