For beyond basketball stands an entire community of student-athletes.

Today, we mourn two young men whose dreams ended far too soon.

Their loss is not an abstraction. It is not merely a headline, a controversy, or a case to be investigated. Two student-athletes died. Two sons will never come home. Two families will carry a grief that words cannot heal. Two young men who came to Manila carrying hopes not only for themselves, but for the people who loved them, were denied the futures they worked so hard to build.

We must never allow ourselves to forget that.

Their deaths demand accountability precisely because their lives mattered.

But even as we honor them, we must also remember that they were not alone in their dreams.

Across Ateneo athletics are hundreds of student-athletes who, like them, left their homes, made sacrifices, and pursued opportunities in the belief that sport could help build a better future. Many carry the hopes of entire families. Many train before dawn and long after classes end. Many have endured years of sacrifice in pursuit of an education, a scholarship, a championship, and a chance to change the course of their lives.

The two young men we lost were not the only student-athletes who dared to dream to be in the big league.

There is the swimmer who wakes before dawn every day to train before classes.

There is the football player who has spent years preparing for a season that may last only a few months.

There is the fencer, the volleyball player, the track athlete, the judoka, the tennis player, and countless others who have dedicated years of sacrifice in pursuit of excellence.

Behind each athlete stands a family, a coach, a community and years of preparation and commitment. 

None of these athletes had any participation in the events now being examined.

None of them were decision-makers or had authority over the circumstances that led to this tragedy.

And yet they may bear the consequences to not be allowed to compete again. 

We ask: is that justice?

The tragedy before us is that two young men have already lost the futures they worked so hard to achieve.

Let us not compound that tragedy by taking away the futures of countless others who bear no responsibility for what happened.

The dreams of the two student-athletes who died deserve justice.

The dreams of the student-athletes who remain deserve protection.

This appeal is not an attempt to shield anyone from responsibility nor diminish the tragedy we now mourn.

Rather, it is a plea for accountability wherever accountability is due and let not innocent student-athletes suffer the consequences of circumstances beyond their control.

Expedite the investigations. Demand transparency. Rally for reforms.

Equally, let discernment prevail in ensuring that justice for the two lives we lost does not become a barrier to the dreams of hundreds more who were left behind.

For justice is strongest when it is guided not only by accountability , but by wisdom, fairness and compassion. 

Today, we mourn. Tomorrow, we seek healing.

And in the days ahead, the Ateneo Community of Student-Athletes appeal that whatever decisions are made will honor not only the memory of those we lost, but also the aspirations of those who remain.

Allow the players to honor Rene and Divine,  in the best way they know how. 

Allow them to continue the legacy of their Fallen Brothers in their respective sports.

Allow them to play in the UAAP. 

TULOY ANG LABAN.