MANILA, Philippines — Iimbestigahan ng National Bureau of Investigation kung may dapat managot sa pagkamatay ng Ateneo de Manila University college basketball team members na sina Rene Clert Baterbonia at Divine Adili, kahit pa lumabas sa imbestigasyon ng pulisya na walang foul play sa insidente.
Ayon kay NBI Director Melvin A. Matibag, ang findings ng pulisya ay tumutukoy lamang sa kawalan ng intentional harm, ngunit hindi nito sinasagot ang posibilidad ng negligence.
“Such a finding speaks to the absence of intentional harm,” pahayag ni Matibag.
“It does not, by itself, answer a separate and equally consequential question under our laws: whether these deaths resulted from negligence in the conduct of the activity,” diin niya.
Sina Baterbonia, 19, at Adili, 21, ay naiulat na nalunod noong Hunyo 8 habang nasa team building activity sa Dipaculao, Aurora.
Binanggit ni Matibag ang Article 365 ng Revised Penal Code, kung saan ang pagkamatay dahil sa reckless o simple imprudence ay isang criminal matter na hiwalay sa anumang intensyon na manakit.
“An event may be ‘accidental’ in the sense that no one wished it, and yet remain the product of a failure to exercise the care the law demands,” ani Matibag.
Ayon sa NBI chief, titingnan ng ahensya kung naipatupad ang sapat na pag-iingat sa school-sanctioned activity, kabilang ang tamang pagsusuri sa lugar at kondisyon ng dagat, pati na ang sapat na safeguards at supervision.
“Where an activity is organized and sanctioned by a school for its student-athletes, those who plan, supervise, and conduct it owe the participants the diligence of a good father of a family — the standard of ordinary care fixed by Articles 1173, 2176, and 2180 of the Civil Code,” pahayag ni Matibag.
“Among the angles now under examination is whether that standard was met: whether the hazards of the location and the condition of the sea were properly assessed, whether adequate safeguards and supervision were in place, and whether the chain of events that claimed these two lives reflects a breach of the duty owed to those entrusted to the institution’s care,” dagdag niya.
Nilinaw ni Matibag na hindi binabalewala ng NBI ang findings ng Aurora Police Provincial Office at hindi rin target ng imbestigasyon ang anumang institusyon, kabilang ang Ateneo.
“We will proceed with objectivity, without prejudgment, and in full coordination with the Philippine National Police and the appropriate authorities,” ayon sa director.
“We ask the public to refrain from speculation that prejudices either the families or those who may become the subject of inquiry, and to allow the facts to be established with the care this loss deserves,” dagdag niya. Dave Baluyot
