Tab Baldwin and Epok Quimpo have both resigned from their posts as head coach and team manager, respectively, of the Ateneo de Manila University Men’s Basketball Team, ending the tenures of two of the program’s top officials in the wake of the deaths of student-athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili.
Ateneo president Fr. Bobby Yap, SJ, announced the development during a press conference on Monday afternoon at the university campus.
Baldwin and Quimpo had been placed on leave since Thursday, June 11, as Ateneo continues its own fact-finding inquiry into the deaths of Baterbonia and Adili, who both drowned during a team-building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora, on June 8.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
Baldwin, a 68-year-old American-Kiwi tactician, had served as the Blue Eagles’ head coach since 2016. He guided Ateneo to four UAAP championships during his decade-long stint, including a historic three-peat from Seasons 80 to 82.
Prior to the start of Season 88 last year, Baldwin agreed to remain with the program after signing a three-year contract extension that would have kept him as head coach from Seasons 89 to 91.
However, his tenure in Katipunan came to an abrupt end as he now faces legal scrutiny and mounting public criticism over his alleged involvement in the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Baterbonia and Adili.
For his part, Quimpo, a member of Ateneo’s Season 65 championship team, had served as team manager since Season 77 in 2014, concluding more than 12 years of service to the program.
Earlier on Monday, neither Baldwin nor Quimpo personally appeared before the Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at Camp Crame despite being subpoenaed.
Investigations by several government agencies — including the Department of Justice, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government — remain ongoing.
Beyond the government investigations, the UAAP said in a statement on Sunday that “it is closely following all developments surrounding this tragic incident and carefully reviewing the findings of the ongoing investigations as they come.”
The Philippine Sports Commission also formed a multi-agency Sports Stakeholders’ Panel last Wednesday, composed of the PSC, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the UAAP, the Commission on Higher Education, the Department of Education, and the National Youth Commission.
