IN PHOTOS: Black armbands, walkout mark Ateneo graduation day after Adili, Baterbonia deaths

MANILA, Philippines – A fight against their own.

Ateneo de Manila University’s graduating Class of 2026 wore black armbands during their commencement ceremony on Friday, June 19, to protest the “lingering questions about our university’s response to this tragedy” and to express their “continued outcry for transparency, justice, and accountability for the deaths of Rene and Divine.”

Ateneo Blue Eagles team members Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili died from drowning on June 8 during a team activity. The victims’ families, the Atenean community, and observers have found the school administration’s response lacking.

These issues “have left our batch and the whole of the Ateneo community with anger, loss, and pain that is unlikely to disappear come Graduation Day,” the Ateneo Seniors’ Alliance said in a post that called for the wearing of black armbands.

After the commencement program, graduates, students, faculty members, and employees joined the 1 pm walkout called by the Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng mga Paaralang Loyola ng Ateneo de Manila

The student council had said: “Amid our collective grief, the Ateneo is in a great period of reckoning. As the community and the loved ones of Rene and Divine reel from this insurmountable loss, it is incumbent on this very institution to face accountability in all forms and subject itself to the calls for renewal from the broader community to which it is answerable.”

Rain poured as the protest participants lit candles and said their prayers to close the program at the Zen Garden on campus. This prompted former Sanggunian president Annika Torres to say, “Kasama natin magluksa ang langit. (The heavens are mourning with us.) 

Here are the highlights of the day:

SOLIDARITY: Members of the graduating batch of 2026 wear black wristbands to stand in solidarity with the families of Divine Adili and Rene Baterbonia. Photo by Glenda Gloria/Rappler PREPS: Students gather at the Ateneo Zen Garden to prepare and make placards for the community walkout. Photo by Sophia Bautista/Rappler SPACE TO REMEMBER: Participants gather at the Zen Garden for a program to remember the lives of Adili and Baterbonia. Photos by Raine Goco /Rappler ATENEANS’ CALL: Students and faculty who walked out on Jne 19, 2026, reiterate calls for justice, clarity, and accountability in the deaths of Adili and Baterbonia. BRAVING THE RAIN. The Ateneo community braves the weather, concluding the program with prayers and their school hymn on June 19, 2026. Photo by Sophia Bautista/Rappler

– Maria Cassandra Dueñas/Rappler.com

Maria Cassandra Dueñas is a Rappler intern from the Ateneo de Manila University.