Content creators planning to attend the July 18 commemoration for Rene Clert Baterbonia have been asked by the late basketball player’s mother to keep their cameras away from the family’s private grief.
“I am appealing to those who will come here on July 18 not to vlog our personal affairs just to have content. If you want to vlog the event, make it right. Do not make your coverage just to earn money and not really condole with us,” Rovelyn Baterbonia told local reporters Wednesday at Talacogon Central Elementary School.
The rites will take place at Labnig Public Cemetery in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur.
The 40th day after a death carries particular weight in Filipino practice. Families typically observe “kuwarenta dias” with Masses, prayers, and gatherings — a solemn marker meant to honor the dead and offer some measure of consolation to those left behind.
Rovelyn was at the school for the turnover of 11 computers, laptops, and accessories donated by Carl Balita Review Center founder Dr. Carl Balita, who traveled to the town to deliver them himself. The equipment answered a wish once expressed by Rene: that he would one day repay his old school after making it as a professional basketball player. Three of Rovelyn’s children are enrolled there.
“As his mother, I am happy that the dreams of my son continue to become a reality,” she said.
Rene, an Ateneo Blue Eagles men’s basketball player, drowned on June 8 alongside teammate Divine Adili during a team-building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora. Waves reportedly pulled both student-athletes out while they were in the water. The deaths drew widespread mourning across Philippine sports and set off inquiries by authorities.
Support has reached the family from across the Philippines and abroad, arriving as food, flowers, and messages. One family scrapped a trip to Japan and came to Talacogon instead.
“Talacogon has become a popular tourist destination because of Rene,” Rovelyn said.
Asked how she was managing since June, she offered no reassurance.
“I am still not okay until we achieve justice for the death of our son,” she said.
