Former volleyball player Gretchen Ho broke her silence as she gave her two cents on the deaths of basketball players Divine Adili and Rene Clert Baterbonia. On her Facebook account, the Ateneo de Manila University alum expressed her hopes that the truth will come out soon, as speculations on social media have been making more noise.
It was announced last June 8 that Divine and Rene Clert passed away during a team-building activity in Dipaculao, Aurora. The Philippine National Police Aurora Provincial Office shared that there is no indication of foul play.
Being a former student-athlete herself of the Ateneo–– representing the Blue-and-White from Seasons 71 to 75 of the UAAP, she expressed how this tragedy pains her.
“As a former student-athlete of Ateneo, this tragedy hits very close to home. It is, deeply painful,” she wrote.
Gretchen maintained that there are “legitimate questions” about the unfortunate incident that happened earlier this week that must be answered. She hopes the multi-stakeholder body formed by the Philippine Sports Commission will shed light on and answer the questions everyone has in mind.
“There are legitimate questions about what happened, and I trust that the multi-stakeholder body formed by the PSC, together with representatives from the UAAP, SBP, CHED, and NYC, will establish the facts and present them to the public at the appropriate time,” she added.
While she acknowledged that many are still grieving, transparency plays a huge role in combating misinformation, especially amid the various rumors circulating on social media. Gretchen has put her trust in her alma mater to do the “right thing.”
“Understandably, people are still in a state of shock, and we should allow them this space to grieve and find their footing. However, silence will only allow speculation and false narratives to thrive. We trust that the institution we call home will do the right thing,” she ended.
UAAP: Ateneo’s Adili, Baterbonia pass away in drowning incident
In the comments section of her post, Gretchen expressed her disappointment with how things are being handled.
“The silence is deafening. Considering all the communication resources available to the university, I do not understand why they think being tight lipped is the right way to handle this. We don't seem to have a problem speaking up and out when it comes to national topics of injustice and corruption, so where is the crisis communication team now? Allowing people time to mourn and process the shock while providing information to the families and the community are not mutually exclusive,” a netizen wrote.
“I agree with you that the way this has been dealt with has been disappointing. That’s why I’m hoping it’s just a matter of getting it together,” Gretchen replied.
Ateneo previously released a statement that confirmed the passing of Divine and Rene Clert. They assured the public that they are providing support to the families of the late athletes and asked for privacy during this time of grieving.