Baterbonia laid to rest on Wednesday; Adili finally bound for home in Nigeria
TALACOGON, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 24 June 2026) — Rene Clert ‘Bobet’ Baterbonia will be laid to rest on Wednesday morning in the town’s new municipal cemetery in Barangay Labnig while his Blue Eagles teammate, Chukwuemeka Divine Adili, who also died from drowning during a “team building” activity in Dipaculao, Aurora on June 8, finally left for home in Nigeria on Monday afternoon.
It took nine days before Baterbonia’s remains finally reached home at 1:40 a.m. on June 16 from Dipaculao to Quezon City, to Davao City and finally Talacogon.
It took exactly two weeks after their death before Adili’s remains could be repatriated to Nigeria from Manila.
Baterbonia’s journey home last week was accompanied by his family and crowds that turned up along the 18-hour travel across 246 kilometers from Davao City at 8 a.m. on June 15, to Talacogon at 1:40 a.m. on June 16. Five of the 18 hours was a stop at a funeral parlor in Panabo City. On ordinary days, travel from Davao City to Talacogon takes only five hours.
Adili, on the other hand, waited for family members to arrive in the Philippines to accompany him home. Reports initially said his father Elias, was arriving to bring him home. Instead, His remains were accompanied by Fr. Sigmund de Guzman, the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) chaplain, and a representative from the Nigerian Embassy in Manila.
As of 11 p.m. Tuesday, there was no report yet on whether Adili has arrived home.
(As of 6 a.m. on Wednesday, still no report on whether Adili’s remains have arrived in Nigeria).
Teams from various towns assist Talacogon teams
Baterbonia will be the first to be buried in the new municipal cemetery on Wednesday, on a 30-square-meter lot intended for a mausoleum, located beside the future chapel.
The new cemetery, expected to be expanded up to five hectares, was the venue for the Archery competition of the Palarong Pambansa 2026 last month.
On Tuesday afternoon, workers were still applying finishing touches to the above-ground grave while under a tent nearby, Agusan del Sur Governor Santiago Cane, Talacogon Mayor Pauline Marie R. Masendo and 1st District Rep. Alfelito Bascug checked on the final preparations for the funeral on Wednesday morning after the 7 a.m. Mass at the municipal gym in Barangay San Agustin.
On Sunday, the mayor convened a multisectoral coordination meeting laying down the “comprehensive preparedness, security, and tactical plans for the upcoming wake, funeral, and burial of our beloved student-athlete, the late Rene Clert Baterbonia,” the municipal government posted on its social media page.
The province augmented the Talacogon personnel because of the thousands of people expected to attend the funeral, Governor Cane said.
He said the province mobilized other teams from neighboring towns to help Talacogon: medical teams, rescue teams, crowd management teams, with the Army, police, and Bureau of Fire Protection.
“Big loss is an understatement,” Cane told MindaNews. “He was a terrible loss for the province talaga. Sisikat yun eh, kasi magaling na bata, at saka very humble, very straightforward, walang yabang, kahit sikat na sikat na siya.” (He was a very good boy, and very humble, very straightforward, he would not brag even if he was very famous).
Before Baterbonia became Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the Palarong Pambansa, he was MVP during the Governor’s Cup in the province.
Cane said that during the Palarong Pambansa the province hosted last month, he witnessed the fight between the Davao Region and Caraga Region where Agusan del Sur belongs and where Baterbonia’s town is.
“Davao na representation niya. He did not represent our province anymore. Pero ganoon pa rin ang mga tao. They were cheering for him. Against our own region,” the governor, who watched the two regions play, said,
He recalled that whenever Baterbonia scored, the crowd mostly from Caraga, would cheer him. “Baterbonia was shooting for Davao, not for Caraga but they would cheer for him,” he said.
Basketball and a better future for family
Baterbonia, 18, and Adili, 21, had similar life stories: poor boys with big dreams for a better future for their families.
Baterbonia’s parents are fish vendors who have to strive hard to feed their seven children and send them to school. Baterbonia was the second son.
Adili has been described as their family breadwinner and the eldest among four children.
“He’s the only hope of this family, he’s our only hope. He’s too hardworking,” his mother, Ifeoma, told ABS-CBN News.
Ifeoma said they were “disappointed with what happened” to their son and like Rovelyn, Baterbonia’s mother, she wants to understand what happened.
ABS-CBN News quoted her as saying: “The only thing I want is that they should please explain to me, let me understand. Because as I’m here now, I cannot even tell exactly what happened to my son… I need an answer, I need a clear answer from the Philippines, from Ateneo Blue Eagle, from the coach. Please I just need an answer. Let me know what happen to my son.”
Adili’s father, Elias, in his social media post on June 12, said: “I want justice for my Son Chukwuemeka Divine Adili who along others stood in for Nigeria in all Nation Tournament in Philippines in 2024, Nigeria won he was ranked 6th best, he gave his all to ATENEO BLUES 3rd ranked University in Philippines.”
“Divine your Family is highly pained and devastated by your demise out of carelessness, you evaporated like a steam out of our sight, Divine we miss you and our tears seems endless,” he said. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
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