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“Make sure they don’t sleep in peace if they don’t tell the truth,” Rene Clert Baterbonia’s mother cried during his funeral.
AGUSAN DEL SUR, Philippines – Rene Clert Baterbonia he arrived in Manila on June 4 to pursue his dream of playing University of Manila Athenaeum in UAAP.
Just 20 days later, on Wednesday, June 24, the young basketball star was buried in his hometown of Talacogon, South Agusan.
Only 18 years old, Baterbonia drowning along with his 21-year-old Nigerian teammate Divine Virtue Ateneo Blue Eagles’ time team building activity in Aurora on June 8.
Talacogon lost its inner hero.
Under the scorching heat, mourners gathered at the new municipal cemetery to say goodbye to Baterbonia, popularly known as Bobet. To his heartbroken fans, he is also Mr. MVP, their big man on and off the court.
Baterbonia’s number 1 fan is undoubtedly his mother Rovelynand his sadness was the most obvious. Holding what would become Bobet’s official jersey in the UAAP, number 35, he claimed justice to his child.
“All the members with this jersey, make sure they don’t sleep in peace if they don’t tell the truth. Starting with the coach, the staff, all the members, don’t let them sleep in peace,” Rovelyn cried while standing in front of his son’s coffin.
Baterbonia had seen basketball as a way to raise his parents and six brothers from poverty, so he stayed in the game.
He was among the youngsters considered as “the future of Philippine basketball,” in the words of the PBA star Scottie Thompsonwho had visited The awakening of Baterbonia.
The 2025 National Games MVP would have been great in the UAAP, PBA, or even with Gilas Pilipinas on the international stage – now it’s just a pain in the what-ifs.
Sobbing uncontrollably, Rovelyn mourned what could have been. “They lost your power. They really lost your power!”
Not only did Baterbonia succeed in basketball. He was a promising young man and was truly kind and humble, as told by those close to him following his tragic death. “Just a kid with big dreams,” Baterbonia himself once said.
His was the story that was heard not only by Filipinos from all over the country, but even those abroad, as evidenced by flowers from the senders in the United States, Canada, and Saudi Arabia, among many others.
They all feel that they too – like Talacogon – had lost a son. – Rappler.com
