A stretch of shoreline in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur became an unexpected memorial over the weekend after local artist Roderick “Papalo” Saranza etched the faces of two Ateneo de Manila University basketball players into the sand, marking the deaths of Rene Clert “Bobet” Baterbonia and Chukwuemeka Divine Adili.
Saranza posted images of the finished work on his Facebook account on June 24, the large-scale renderings carved directly into the wet sand near the water’s edge. The portraits join a widening collection of grassroots tributes that have surfaced across the country since the two athletes died.
Baterbonia, 18, and Adili, 21, drowned on June 8 during a team-building activity at a beach resort in Dipaculao, Aurora. The Aurora Provincial Police Office determined that Baterbonia died of asphyxia by drowning, and early statements from local authorities described the incident as accidental, with no signs of foul play.
That account did not hold for long. On June 17, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said its preliminary findings pointed away from a simple accident. CIDG director Major General Robert Alexander Morico II told reporters that the players had been taken roughly 700 meters from the resort to walk and jog in the seawater, and questioned why the activity went ahead when coaches had been briefed on the area’s strong currents and uneven shoreline.
The fallout reached the university’s coaching ranks. Head coach Thomas Anthony “Tab” Baldwin and team manager Epok Quimpo stepped down on June 15, and the University Athletic Association of the Philippines barred Baldwin and other staff present during the activity. Baldwin, who had earlier said he failed as coach, was later placed under an immigration lookout bulletin order.
The two players have since been buried. Baterbonia was laid to rest on June 24 at the Labnig Public Cemetery in his hometown of Talacogon, Agusan del Sur, where his mother, Rovelyn, broke down at the tomb and pressed for an apology from those responsible. Adili’s remains were repatriated to Nigeria on June 22, in keeping with his family’s wishes.
The Tandag sand drawings are part of a broader artistic response to the tragedy. In Agusan del Sur, the local collective ARTsurnon unveiled a mural honoring Baterbonia at the 32nd Naliyagan Festival, weaving indigenous design into a portrait of the athlete’s career. Other artists across social media have produced sketches and framed portraits dedicated to both players in the weeks since their deaths.
Baterbonia, a native of Talacogon and product of Ateneo de Davao, had been bound for a debut with the Blue Eagles in UAAP Season 89 after leading the Davao Region to the 2025 Palarong Pambansa championship, where he was named Most Valuable Player. Adili, a Nigerian center, had joined Ateneo for Season 88 after a standout junior career at New Era University that earned him two NAASCU titles and back-to-back MVP honors.
