Lawyer Pelagio Cuison, legal counsel for Ateneo de Manila University men’s basketball coach Reynaldo Jacinto, speaks to the media while leaving the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) headquarters in Camp Crame on Friday, June 19, 2026. (Screengrab from video by Jason Sigales/INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines — Ateneo de Manila University men’s basketball team coach Reynaldo Jacinto maintained that the fatal drownings of players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili in Aurora were an “accident,” his lawyer said.
Jacinto had appeared before the Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP–CIDG) in Camp Crame on Friday as part of the investigation into the incident.
“Coach Jacinto gave his statement. He stated what happened… Hopefully, after this, investigators get the finding that, sadly, there was an unexpected event that happened. It was all just an accident and there was really no initiation,” lawyer Pelagio Cuison, who represents Jacinto, told reporters.
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