With the boys from Batang Tiaong returning once again in this year’s Smart-NBTC National Finals, it’s time to look back on their journey through the squad’s principal architect, Atty. Rexember Baldeo.
A proud father, husband, and lawyer, Baldeo is the head and founder of Batang Tiaong, a grassroots program for kids of all ages around the Tiaong area in Quezon Province.
However, prior to starting the program in 2019, the “attorney-coach” as his colleagues like to call him, went through devastating blows in his own personal life. Around January in 2018, he lost his mother and didn’t attend work for a month, eventually returning to the vices he had done in high school.
Despite this, he found his passion when a chance confession with a local priest kickstarted his new journey. According to Baldeo, “the priest said find something that you love, and naalala ko in love ako sa basketball.
“Basketball helped me recover from ‘yung mahirap na moment na yun, yung dad ko nabaril tas seven years later mom ko rin nabaril, so from then inisip ko lang talaga to always make a difference sa life ng others.”
Armed with only the basic knowledge for coaching, he started out helping young kids in his area to learn and hone the basics of basketball. Eventually, Tiaong’s mayor tapped Baldeo to handle their inter-town team.
“Noon, masaya na kami pag kahit maka-isang panalo lang ang Tiaong,” said Baldeo on the state of their inter-town team prior to his handling.
Their days of mediocracy would soon change when Tiaong made an unprecedented run to reach the semifinals, only losing to the eventual champions that year.
Following this, Coach Rex began pouring his heart out for the development of Batang Tiaong, attending SBP coaching clinics with Tab Baldwin and fellow Quezonian Leo Austria, whom Baldeo personally looks up to.
He eventually sought out fellow coaches in the area and expanded their reach to multiple youth teams under the Batang Tiaong program. With guidance and funding from their mayor, the team finally reached the pinnacle of Quezon basketball, winning the championship in 2022.
Their program produced players who would eventually go on to play in the UAAP and NCAA including Kobe Dalisay, Mowell Morales, and Vhoris Marasigan. Additionally, he hopes that neophytes like NBTC South Luzon MVP Renz Apor, Jay R Amade, and Junior MPBL’s Rex Villanueva will make waves in the future.
His program extends to more than just basketball by helping his players get scholarships to also help their families, and asking his fellow lawyers to donate shoes to his recruits that used to play barefoot in Tiaong.
“Malaking tulong na dapat hindi lang sila magaling na basketball player. Mas importante na nakapag-aral at maayos ang buhay nila, okay na yan sa’kin. [It’s an] unquantifiable joy for me. Sobrang saya ko na makita yung players ko na nag-iimprove on and off the court.”
In 2023, they nearly placed in the top four in the NBTC National Finals and had done what no other team from Quezon had been able to achieve before. From a small town without much to boast of in terms of basketball, Baldeo and his crew at Batang Tiaong have put their fledgling municipality on the map for the future of Philippine basketball.
Now, Coach Rex hopes to emulate programs like that of Pampanga, and eventually help more of his players reach the collegiate ranks–with the main goal being to produce Tiaong’s first PBA player.
However, even as of now, they seem to be on the right track. Baldeo personally meets with all his players off the court and consistently looks for avenues for the boys to balance academics and basketball, looking for options to have a full-time dorm where all members of all age groups can focus on both without any problems.
“Malayo na, pero malayo pa.
“We want to consistently compete sa national level. Pero, personally, sobrang saya ko pag may nanay o tatay na nag-memessage sa’kin na naging scholar anak nila, yan ang unquantifiable joy ko,” Baldeo concluded.
