Evangelio Urges Tab Baldwin to Speak with Baterbonia Family, Tall Blacks
Jess Evangelio said the tall blacks fallout over Rene Clert Baterbonia should not sit only with the memory of the 18-year-old player. He said Thomas Anthony “Tabal” Baldwin should talk to Baterbonia’s family and to his former team at Ateneo de Davao University for “peace of mind.”
Evangelio’s call in Davao City
Evangelio made the appeal in Davao City on June 12. He linked the request directly to Baldwin, who heads the Ateneo de Manila University basketball team, and to the people closest to Baterbonia: the family and the program where he played before his recruitment.
Baterbonia was described as barely becoming a Blue Eagle after being recruited to play for Ateneo de Manila University. The player, also identified as Rene Clert “Bobet” Baterbonia, was a native of Talacogon, Agusan del Sur.
Baterbonia’s Ateneo path
The request lands against the backdrop of a player who had only just been moving toward Ateneo’s top-level program. On June 12, 2026, he was described as barely becoming a Blue Eagle, a detail that makes the appeal about direct contact more pointed: the people who knew him at home and at Ateneo de Davao remain part of the story around his loss.
Evangelio, who coached Baterbonia at Ateneo de Davao University, was clear about where he thought Baldwin should start. He named the family first, then the former team, and framed the conversation as a step toward “peace of mind.”
Ateneo de Davao’s role
That places Ateneo de Davao University at the center of the immediate aftermath, alongside Ateneo de Manila University. Baterbonia’s former coach is asking for contact across both sides of his basketball path, not a distant statement or a public show of sympathy.
For readers following the fallout, the practical next step is simple: the focus is now on whether Baldwin speaks with the people Evangelio named. The issue is no longer just Baterbonia’s recruitment or his label as a Blue Eagle; it is whether the two Ateneo programs and his family get the direct conversation Evangelio said would bring “peace of mind.”
