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Ateneo’s lack of transparency after the deaths of its players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili becomes fodder for Duterte supporters and their Luzon versus Mindanao messaging
Online networks of the Duterte base were quick to ride on the public rage over Ateneo de Manila University’s (ADMU) delayed reactions and piecemeal information in the aftermath of the deaths of its basketball players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili .
Public Facebook posts about the deaths surfaced various pro-Duterte pages calling out Ateneo for failing the Mindanaoan Baterbonia, according to an analysis of data forensics group The Nerve.
This Luzon-Mindanao divide was prominent in the populist campaign of Rodrigo Duterte during the 2016 presidential election, which sought to sow a rift between the “elite” Tagalog-speaking community and the Bisaya-speaking regions. Duterte, who speaks Bisaya, is the first president from Mindanao.
For their fellow Mindanaoan
Through Probe, The Nerve’s content and narrative analysis solution, the data forensics group looked into more than 21,000 public Facebook posts that talked about the drowning incident from June 8, the day Baterbonia and Adili died, to June 15.
Calls for justice dominated the Facebook posts at 22%, led by many users calling ADMU’s statements after the incident cold and unsympathetic (11% in The Nerve’s analysis).
This is where posts tackling support from the Duterte camp (6%) came in.
More than 400 of these posts mentioned Vice President Sara Duterte and called out ADMU’s lackluster response. The Vice President also visited Baterbonia’s wake in Davao City on June 13.
Duterte ally Senator Robin Padilla also came to the aid of Baterbonia’s family, mentioned in more than 600 posts in The Nerve’s analysis. Aside from visiting Baterbonia’s wake, the senator also filed a resolution seeking a probe into the incident.
Lawyer Israelito Torreon, who had served as counsel for Duterte and Apollo Quiboloy , also offered legal services to the Baterbonia family together with Jimmy Bondoc, counsel of fugitive Senator Bato dela Rosa .
“Rene Baterbonia was a Mindanaoan. He was a dreamer from among our own people. For us, that is not an abstraction. When one of our own falls, the pull to stand up is not professional. It is personal. Kay kami, kabalo mi mudapig sa among parehong Bisaya (Because we know to stand with our fellow Bisaya),” Torreon and Bondoc said in a joint statement reiterating their support for the aggrieved family.
‘BATERBONIA WAS A MINDANAOAN.’ Vice President Sara Duterte, along with allies, shows support for the family of deceased Ateneo basketball player Rene Baterbonia. The Nerve screenshots
Mindanao was mentioned in around 739 Facebook posts in The Nerve’s analysis.
In these posts was one dominant narrative: that Baterbonia — a boy who grew up in a poor village in Agusan del Sur, led Davao Region to a Palarong Pambansa championship , and pursued bigger dreams in the capital — was failed by ADMU, an elite institution in Luzon. Luzon was mentioned in at least 96 posts.
The Nerve noted at least four Facebook posts perpetuating this narrative that shared similar phrasing, being reposted around 46 times cumulatively:
A post starting with “LOVED AND CARED BY MINDANAO, ONLY IN LUZON, LIFE WILL BE LOST”, reposted at least 20 times
A post starting with “ Inalagaan sa Mindanao, Napabayaan nga ba sa Luzon? ”, reposted at least 11 times
A post starting with “ PIN@T@Y LANG SA LUZON PAGKATAPOS MINAHAL AT INALAGAAN NG MINDANAO SI RENE BATERBONIA ”, reposted at least 11 times
A post starting with “ MINAHAL AT INALAGAAN NG MINDANAO SA LUZON LANG DAW MAWAWALA ANG BUHAY ”, reposted at least four times
These posts and their respective reposts have garnered at least 30,000 engagements in total.
‘CARED FOR IN MINDANAO, LEFT BEHIND IN LUZON?’ Dozens of Facebook posts perpetuate a Luzon-Mindanao divide as it criticizes Ateneo de Manila University after the deaths of its budding student-athletes Rene Baterbonia, who hailed from Agusan del Sur, and Divine Adili. The Nerve screenshots
Duterte propagandist Krizette Chu, in a Facebook post that has been reposted at least 25 times on the platform, pushed the narrative further — that ADMU’s response would’ve been different if Baterbonia and Adili came from affluent backgrounds.
WHAT IF VICTIMS WERE AFFLUENT? Facebook posts share Duterte propagandist Krizette Chu’s post asking what would have happened if Ateneo drowning victims Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili came from affluent backgrounds. The Nerve screenshots
Another set of Facebook posts gave a shout-out to former president Duterte. Calling him “the poor people’s president,” these posts claimed scenarios of what he would’ve done if…
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