[In the Public Square] Ateneo: What happens now?

The drowning of Ateneo de Manila Men’s Basketball Team players Bobet Baterbonia and Divine Adili on June 8 is a tragedy in the modern sense: apparently a matter of chance, not a matter of destiny. But the suffering it has caused is of the age-old kind: it has devastated their families in Agusan del Sur and in Nigeria, traumatized their teammates, and demoralized their university.

Without losing focus on the victims in this tragedy, we would like to ask: For the survivors, the team, and Ateneo de Manila, what happens now? What is the way forward?

Like many others inside and outside the Loyola Heights campus, we would like to know: What happened, who is responsible, why did the university respond that way, what can be done to repair the moral and other kinds of damage, how do we prevent a repeat?

In this new episode of In the Public Square, Rappler columnist John Nery is joined by the former dean of the Ateneo School of Government, Tony La Viña. He wrote one of the most insightful commentaries, and the most comprehensive. In fact, the themes that commentary suggested were adopted by the Ateneo de Davao when it hosted Bobet’s wake and memorial: panaghoy, amping, puhon.

Watch the episode on Wednesday, June 17, at 8 pm. –Rappler.com