The Department of Justice (DOJ) has directed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the death of Ateneo de Manila University basketball players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili, said a report by GMA News Online.

The NBI would determine if there is sufficient basis to recommend the filing of charges.

“The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Central Office has been instructed to create a task force to conduct a thorough, comprehensive, and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the DOJ said in a statement on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, two days after the tragic incident in Dipaculao, Aurora

“The DOJ remains committed to ensuring that the facts are fully established and that justice is served,” it added.

According to Ateneo, the two players drowned during a team-building activity.

Baterbonia, a former Palarong Pambansa champion and Most Valuable Player for Ateneo de Davao, was set to begin his collegiate career with the Blue Eagles in UAAP Season 89.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Adili served as Ateneo's foreign student-athlete in Season 88 where the Blue Eagles finished with a 6-8 record.

Initial findings of the Police Regional Office 3 (PRO-3) showed "the victims were swimming when they were reportedly carried by a strong current into deeper waters.” 

Baterbonia's mother, Rovelyn, has called for justice for her son. 

“Bakit nila pinapalangoy 'yung anak ko na may 20 kilos 'yung bigat. Alam naman nila na mabigat yung nilagay nila sa paa at sa kamay, tapos pinaano pa nila sa dagat,” Rovelyn said.

(Why did they make my son swim while carrying 20 kilograms of weight? They knew what they attached to his feet and hands was heavy, yet they still made him go into the ocean.)

However, the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Dipaculao said investigators found no weights attached to either athlete when they drowned.

Earlier, the PNP Aurora Provincial Office said investigators found no evidence of foul play in the death of the student-athletes.

Authorities described the incident as “pure accident.”