Baterbonia will be first to be buried in new municipal cemetery
TALACOGON, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews / 16 June 2026) — Rene Clert “Bobet” Baterbonia will be the first to be buried in the town’s new cemetery in Barangay Labnig on June 24, on a 30-square meter lot intended for a mausoleum, beside the future chapel.
Baterbonia’s mother, Rovelyn, visited the proposed burial site shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday, a few minutes after Vice Mayor Elvin Maligsa arrived to also inspect the site and await her arrival.
The new cemetery is where the Archery competition of the Palarong Pambansa was held last month.
Maligsa said the local government will take care of the expenses for the lot and above-ground grave. He said he was informed there is already a sponsor for the construction of the mausoleum.
The new cemetery is located around 6.8 kilometers from the Municipal Evacuation and Gymnasium in Barangay San Agustin, venue of the wake for Baterbonia until June 23.
Rovelyn told MindaNews that the Mass at 8 a.m. on June 24 will be held at the gymnasium to accommodate more people. The San Estanislao Kostka Parish Church, where Baterbonia and his family go to for Masses, has an estimated seating capacity of only 250.
She said she wants the funeral after the morning Mass because it might rain in the afternoon.
Public viewing of the wake started at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Baterbonia’s white casket has been placed at the center, near the stage. On the stage, 23 wreaths of white flowers — chrysanthemums, roses, anthuriums, stargazers — and three blown up photographs of Baterbonia, serve as backdrop.
Below the stage, seven wreaths, also white, line the area where Baterbonia’s white casket is. Beside the head part is a standee of Baterbonia in a basketball uniform.
Two of his jerseys are displayed — the Ateneo de Davao University Senior High School’s Blue Knights (Number 2) and what would have been for the Ateneo de Manila University’s Blue Eagles (Number 35). The latter is draped on his casket, the ADDU jersey on the garden set-up of white chrysanthemums and anthuriums.
The local government unit had earlier announced it would livestream the “entire wake.”
Consolita Campos, officer-in-charge of the San Estanislao Kostka Parish office, told MindaNews that Fr. Silverio Relova, the parish priest, will officiate a Mass at the gym at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. She said daily Masses will be offered at 7 p.m. for Baterbonia who was a devout Catholic.
Campos said Bobet was one of his students in catechism and would usually personally go to church or through his mother, “para magpamisa” (to sponsor a Mass) before and after competitions, whether or not he wins. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
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