More than a week after the drowning deaths of Ateneo de Manila University student-athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili in Dipaculao, Aurora, the conversation surrounding the tragedy shifted from what happened to what could have been done to prevent it.
In their appearance on Pia Hontiveros' Let's Talk podcast, Blue Eagles players Kieffer Alas and Sam Reyes offered the most detailed public account yet from individuals who were present during the ill-fated team-building camp.
While multiple speculations have surfaced on social media, Alas and Reyes provided context and also opened new aspects for the ongoing investigations by authorities to consider.
The podcast aired after 10 former Blue Eagles players had appeared at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group headquarters at Camp Crame to give statements about their training under Tab Baldwin, who has now resigned at Ateneo de Manila University basketball coach.
Three current members of the team -- captain Jared Bahay, Ian Espinosa, and Andrew Bongo -- also appeared in a town hall at the university campus in Katipunan to recount their memories of the day to fellow students, professors, parents, and school officials.
Were the players briefed about rip currents once it occurs in the boot camp?
This was one of the main issues addressed during the early part of the podcast.
Alas said the team underwent meetings prior to the trip, in which Baldwin had discussed rip currents and the proper response should players get caught in one.
"We had meetings before the Aurora training that Coach Tab explained about the rip currents, and how to get out of a rip," Alas said. "We talked about it a couple of days before. We had a pretty long discussion about it."
The 19-year old freshman added that players were also warned about the beach's uneven seabed conditions.
"They warned us about the uneven sand. You can randomly go back down and up."
The remarks came amid questions surrounding the safety preparations undertaken before the activity. Authorities have identified rip currents as a factor in the incident, and investigations by the Philippine National Police and other agencies are continuing.
Was the activity considered hazing and part of initiation rites to rookies?
Alas discussed the matter, and was quick to push back when asked if the beach exercise was connected to hazing or rookie initiation rites.
The issue surfaced in the days following the tragedy, with some observers questioning whether younger players were subjected to activities intended to test newcomers to the program.
"Not at all," Alas said. "It just hurts how people perceive it that way. I know my veterans wouldn't even think of that. They wouldn't do that to me or any of the other rookies."
Alas' comments echoed Ateneo's earlier statements describing the activity as part of a team-building camp run since Baldwin took over the program rather than an initiation rite.
What exactly was boot camp all about?
Alas and Reyes also provided a clearer picture of the activities leading up to the incident, outlining a day that began with a four-kilometer morning run before transitioning into a series of team-building exercises.
The two players said the team started the day with an early jog before having breakfast and a period of rest. The group then played dodgeball, ate lunch, then proceeded to the ill-fated water-based activity.
"Yung requirement, the water should be knee to waist, hindi aabot dito [sa dibdib] kasi hindi naman kami swimming team na lalangoy yung training, Bahay said at the university town hall. Training namin is to jog in the water. There's resistance."
["The requirement was that the water should only be from knee-to waist-deep and not reach chest level because we're not a swimming team. The purpose of the training wasn't for us to swim. We were supposed to jog in the water because it provides resistance"]
Bahay's statement echoed remarks from Espinosa, who recalled at the town hall that Baldwin had asked before the activity which players did not know how to swim.
Players who could swim remained in water that was supposed to range from knee- to waist-deep, while the others remained closer to shore as coaches monitored the session from the shoreline. The conditions, however, worsened and stronger waves entered the area, transforming what was intended to be a controlled conditioning exercise into a life-threatening situation.
At what point did the players feel the rip currents?
Alas and Reyes provided details of the terrifying moments when the situation in the water began to deteriorate, describing how a series of powerful waves quickly overwhelmed the group.
When asked about the size of the waves that struck the players, Reyes, 21, offered a straightforward description of the conditions they faced.
"It was bigger than us," Reyes said of the second wave, as the water went from thigh- to chest-deep.
But it only got worse, as danger escalated as players began losing their positions in the water.
"After the second wave, one of our teammates, Kyle Gamber, started screaming for help. He got separated and got swept to the back from the middle," Alas said.
Alas and Reyes both noted that the players in the water initially laughing as Gamber screamed because they thought he was joking.
Alas said the third wave marked the point when panic spread throughout the group.
"Third wave, that's when everyone started screaming because we couldn't touch the ground," he said.
Alas and Reyes said they feared for their lives as the current carried them farther from shore.
Alas recounted being repeatedly pulled underwater, and believing he would not survive.
"I was going down and down," he said. "I was gonna accept na mawawala na po ako [that I was going to die]. Then after more seconds had gone by, I felt my feet touch the sand. There was a glimmer of hope, so I jumped and gasped for air.".
Reyes, a third-year student, shared a similar experience, saying the relentless waves and strong current left him unable to make progress despite his efforts to swim back to safety.
"The waves were still coming in and we went farther and farther back," Reyes said. "At that point, I was already thinking that if I wasn't able to get out of this, I'm going to die.
"I was in total panic. I was trying to swim back to shore but no matter how hard I tried to swim, I wasn't going anywhere."
How did the team and the first responders act during the tragedy
Beyond detailing the conditions in the water, the Alas and Reyes also shed light on the frantic moments that followed as teammates scrambled to bring Baterbonia and Adili back to shore.
Reyes disputed public perceptions that emergency personnel immediately took charge of the situation, saying members of the Blue Eagles, not first responders, first carried their teammate out of the water.
"When we saw Rene, it was us who carried him out of the water, not the first responders," Reyes said. "Wala pong tumulong [Nobody helped}. They were just spectating. They were just watching us.
Alas echoed those concerns, recalling seeing an individual recording the scene while players and staff were trying to help their teammates.
"One guy nga po, he had his phone out like that po," Alas said. "I was wondering why. Hindi talaga ako makasalita, kami ni coach Sandro [We couldn't really speak alongside coach Sandro Soriano]. We could not focus talaga. We were overwhelmed talaga. Pero, I saw it with my eyes na he was just filming."
Alas clarified that attempts to revive Baterbonia began immediately after he was taken ashore. The Ateneo rookie said that team physical therapist Jerick Rueca administered CPR before personnel from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Aurora took over -- which in hindsight could have been the wrong decision.
In the university town hall, Bahay mentioned Baldwin's efforts during the emergency, saying the veteran coach exhausted himself in helping to rescue Espinosa from the water.
"Coach Tab just went to get Ian because he didn't know how to swim so when he came back, he was struggling to breathe," Bahay said.
"He's like 68 years old.
"I told him: 'Coach, Divine's gone, Divine's gone,' and then everybody panicked."
Was there a gag order for the players?
Alas and Reyes pushed back against speculation that Ateneo had imposed a gag order on players after the incident, clarifying that the team's initial instruction was meant to allow the university to notify families before details became public.
Reyes also said that coaches had asked the players to refrain from discussing the tragedy immediately after returning from Aurora.
"At first, nung Monday after the tragedy po, sinabi po sa amin ng coaches po like, don't tell anyone about what happened para po ma-inform po muna nila yung parents," he said. "So they wanted to inform the parents first po bago po malaman po from other social media na. They wanted to be the ones."
["At first, on the Monday after the tragedy, our coaches told us not to tell anyone what had happened because they wanted to inform the parents first. They wanted the families to hear it from them before learning about it through social media or other sources.]
Alas and Reyes said they had struggled to speak about the incident in the days that followed, as they were processing the loss of their teammates.
"Me and Sam talked about it," Alas said. "We couldn't really grasp and just didn't sink in what happened. It's just so hard to talk because we couldn't accept na nawala po yung dalawang teammate po namin." [couldn't accept the fact that our two teammates are gone].
And what makes it even tougher for the players is how some people have sent death threats on their social media accounts.
"It's like going through two deaths," Alas said.
"The first one is losing our two teammates, and now being criticized for their deaths.
"We lost them, we've witnessed it happen.
"I don't know every social media person or anybody they're just putting the blame on us.
Reyes said: "It's just hard, the comments that they're saying that we're just jealous that we did it because we're jealous. It's just killing us because we're there and we lost two of our brothers. It's really painful to survive what happened but it's also killing us at the same time."