The MVP Sports Foundation (MVPSF) has formally clarified its relationship with the Ateneo de Manila University men’s basketball team, stating that its involvement is strictly confined to financial sponsorship.
The statement was issued following reports that investigators are looking into whether the basketball program operates independently through a foundation linked to the business empire of tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan.
The police inquiry stems from the tragic drowning of student-athletes Divine Adili and Rene Clert Baterbonia during a team-building trip in Dipaculao, Aurora.
“As with all of the sports programs we support, the MVPSF’s role is limited to providing funding,” the foundation stated on Tuesday.
The matter surfaced after Maj. Gen. Robert Morico II, director of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), noted that Ateneo’s athletics department described the basketball program as operating under an independent foundation linked to Smart Communications and Pangilinan.
Consequently, authorities announced plans to subpoena officials from Smart Communications and Ateneo President Fr. Roberto Yap to establish where organizational accountability lies.
In response, the MVPSF firmly denied exercising any management or operational oversight over the team.
“The foundation does not own or manage the Ateneo Men’s Basketball Team. It does not run the team’s programs and athletes’ management, coaching, recruitment, and player development,” the foundation emphasized.
The sports foundation also addressed the status of Epok Quimpo, who recently resigned as the Ateneo team manager following the tragedy.
While Quimpo is a regular employee of Smart Communications, the foundation asserted that his role with the Blue Eagles was a personal undertaking rather than a corporate assignment.
“Mr. Epok Quimpo is an employee of Smart Communications. But we understand he has served with the Ateneo Men’s Basketball Team in his own personal capacity over the past full decade — as an alumnus of Ateneo, and as a former member of the Ateneo Men’s Basketball Team, who was invited by Ateneo to be its team manager,” the MVPSF explained, adding that Quimpo “has always been under the authority and direction of the University and its officials.”
The organization concluded by extending its deepest sympathies to the bereaved families and expressing its support for the ongoing investigations.
“The MVP Sports Foundation stands by all it has offered and provided for the development of Filipino athletes,” the statement read.
The organization further noted that it stands with the public “not only in mourning the deaths of Divine Adili and Rene Baterbonia, but in working to surface all truths behind this tragedy, reaching out to their families, and affirming our continuing mission to use sports as a platform for Filipinos to achieve excellence and pursue their dreams.”
Both the CIDG and Ateneo de Manila University are currently conducting separate investigations to determine the full circumstances surrounding the fatal incident in Aurora.