The UAAP basketball season is around the corner and pre-season preparations are in full swing. Ateneo alumni of all ages and generations are eagerly watching how the senior team is shaping up for the coming battles.

New recruits are being scrutinized by alumni armchair analysts with eagle eyes to figure out if the fresh team lineup boosted by promising talents can live up to the championship expectations of the community. Especially so because the Blue Eagles had faltered badly since their last championship in 2022. It is high time to again proudly sing “A Song for Mary” as our basketball team emerges as champions once more.

This season should have been no different. But unhappily it would be so because two young Blue Eagles — Rene Clert Baterbonia from Agusan del Sur and Divine Adili from faraway Nigeria — eager to fly high to prove their worth in basketball and under the bright lights of the world, have fallen from the sky in the treacherous sea of Dipaculao in Aurora.

It seems this tragic incident has caught the imagination of the nation which has grown weary of the ridiculous Senate leadership circus and the shenanigans of unscrupulous DPWH officials and greedy contractors.

More so because these young Eagles, attracted by the promise of excellence in learning in the hallowed grounds of Loyola Heights, were of humble means, particularly Rene whose parents are simple fish vendors.

These young men represented a breath of fresh air and hope for a bright future that has been tragically snuffed out just barely after taking the first few steps towards the fulfillment of their dreams.

The Ateneo community is understandably in a state of disbelief at how such a tragedy could have taken place. The highly esteemed traditions of the school that has produced some of the most respected, responsible, and admired leaders of the nation and of industry has been rocked to the very foundations of its teachings of “Magis” and “Cura principalis.”

To paraphrase these principles of life, “If we are to learn and grow, we must be stretched to our limits and challenged. Our well-being, motivation, and emotions are critical to our learning. But above all, this education is for the greater good, for what others need and for the believers, for what God wants for us.”

There are burning questions in the minds of all trying to make sense of the apparently extreme drills that led to the tragedy. What exactly happened that led to the loss of lives?

Is the de rigueur backbreaking physicality of the training meant to be an embodiment of Ateneo’s ideals of being challenged and stretched to the extreme limits of the team? Is it to foster teamwork? Is it meant to be for the greater good of enhancing team spirit? And is achieving victory above all worth it if it prejudices the wellbeing of the athletes?

Surely these actions are not what the teachings of Magis and Cura Principalis are meant for the Ateneo basketball team and its coaching staff to emulate.

The accident brings to mind the lyrics of the school hymn, “A Song for Mary,” which thousands of Ateneans who have passed through the portals of Loyola sing on special occasions to inspire, remind, and exhort the graduates to embody the various Marian ideals that are rooted in the teachings of the Gospels which are associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary’s life.

But now as we stand on a hill, Ateneo is facing a challenge that is testing the very integrity of its avowed ideals. Will the institution revered by so many be able to live up to the message of “A Song for Mary?”

The initial inaction of the school authorities regarding the need to be upfront with the public and more importantly with the bereaved families of Rene and Divine have unfortunately been so far unsatisfactory in the scrutinizing eyes of many, lacking in compassion, empathy, and remorse for what happened.

No school official had personally met with the families nor had anyone been designated to respond to the public’s growing demands for an explanation. The school authorities should not hide behind impersonal pronouncements and the need to show caution in order to avoid any liabilities which surely it will not be able to avoid.

The school’s management must muster the courage to face up to the truth that Rene and Divine perished under their watch. Ateneo has no choice and I as a proud alumnus of the institution am confident that Ateneo will do the right thing. It will undoubtedly live up to the expectations of the alumni community to uphold the values that we were taught, to be a Man for Others.

Postscript: As this piece goes to press, Tab Baldwin has done the right but painful step and taken the blame squarely on his shoulders by resigning.

Until next week… OBF!