MANILA, Philippines — Ateneo de Manila University basketball players Kieffer Alas and Sam Reyes said they received death threats and online accusations following the drowning deaths of teammates Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili during a team training camp in Dipaculao, Aurora on June 8.
Alas made the disclosure in an interview on the “Let’s Talk with Pia Hontiveros” podcast on Tuesday, where he said some social media users blamed surviving team members for the incident and alleged jealousy motivated the tragedy.
Alas said the backlash compounded the grief he and his teammates experienced after witnessing the deaths.
“It’s like going through two deaths. The first one is losing our two teammates, and now being criticized for their deaths,” Alas said. “We lost them; we’ve witnessed it happen.”
Alas, who recently joined the Blue Eagles, said he did not expect to face such criticism at his age.
“I just turned 19. It’s just hard. I didn’t think I would be experiencing this,” he said.
Reyes echoed similar sentiments, describing online accusations as painful for the team.
He said some commenters alleged jealousy played a role in the incident, a claim he rejected.
“It’s just hard, the comments that they’re saying that we’re just jealous… It’s really painful to survive what happened but it’s also killing us at the same time,” Reyes said.
The players also said speculation and lack of official information contributed to the spread of misinformation about the incident.
Alas and Reyes denied online claims that players wore ankle weights or weight belts during the activity and rejected allegations that initiation rites took place.
Authorities continue to investigate the deaths. The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are conducting separate probes, along with Ateneo de Manila University and the UAAP.
The Ateneo men’s basketball team previously withdrew from the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup following the incident.