Camille Naredo

Late Ateneo center Divine Adili with his mother, Ifeoma, and brother Jesse at the airport in Abuja, Nigeria, before Divine left for the Philippines. Photo courtesy of Ifeoma Adili

Article (news)

Divine Adili

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781598470557viber_image_2026-06-16_16-11-49-527.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Late Ateneo center Divine Adili with his mother, Ifeoma, and brother Jesse at the airport in Abuja, Nigeria, before Divine left for the Philippines. Photo courtesy of Ifeoma Adili"/>Late Ateneo center Divine Adili with his mother, Ifeoma, and brother Jesse at the airport in Abuja, Nigeria, before Divine left for the Philippines. Photo courtesy of Ifeoma Adili</div>MANILA – It was a bittersweet moment for Jesse Adili when he found out that his older brother, Divine, was going to leave Nigeria and go to the Philippines nearly three years ago.  Chukwuemeka Divine Adili hailed from Lagos State, Nigeria and is the eldest of four siblings. He was closest to his youngest brother Jesse, keeping in touch even after he moved to the Philippines.  Jesse said his relationship with Divine involved talking about basketball, even if the former was not as passionate as his older brother. &quot;He&#x27;s like my backbone. He&#x27;s my other half. That&#x27;s what I usually call him... I had a mixed emotion when I got the news that he was traveling out to play basketball. I was happy because it has always been his dream,&quot; he told ABS-CBN News last Saturday. &quot;He [Divine] always watches NBA highlights, me and him, though he usually forces me, because I don&#x27;t [have] any interest in basketball,&quot; Jesse added. The younger Adili said he initially felt sad by Divine&#x27;s decision to fly continents away. But for Jesse, he knew his brother&#x27;s decision was more than just pursuing his dreams in basketball. He understood that Divine was leaving home for their family&#x27;s future.  &quot;So when he got the news about going to the Philippines, I was happy that he got to fulfill his dream. And he knows that we are rooting for him. And we are always going to be here to support him,&quot; he shared. &quot;And I was sad because knowing the Philippines, the Philippines is like the other side of the world, the distance. I&#x27;ve not been so far away from my brother. But I had to accept that because he was going to fight for his future and the future of his family,&quot; Jesse added. Divine&#x27;s parents earlier described him as the breadwinner of the family who was very &quot;hardworking&quot; in the hopes of giving them a better life. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2026/6/13/divine-adili-s-family-on-tab-baldwin-s-apology-the-damage-has-been-done-2347">READ: Divine Adili&#x27;s family on Tab Baldwin&#x27;s apology: &#x27;The damage has been done&#x27;</a></div>&quot;Divine is the first son of the family. Divine is the breadwinner of the family. He&#x27;s the hope of the family. As it is now, the lifeline of the family has been taken away,&quot; his aunt, Nwozor-Mabia Oggona Grace, said. Divine, along with teammate Rene Baterbonia, died in a drowning incident in Aurora last June 8. The Ateneo Blue Eagles had been conducting a team building activity in Dipaculao when the tragedy occurred.&quot;He is the first son of the family. He is the hope of the family. He is the breadwinner of the family. He has three siblings, depending on him. And now, where are they going to go?&quot; Oggona Grace added. Jesse recalled what would be his last conversation with Divine before the tragic incident that claimed his life and teammate Rene Baterbonia.&quot;Last time I spoke with my brother was on my birthday. He called me to wish me a happy birthday. That was the last time,&quot; he shared. <div><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UnnDB9YWV7E?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></div>The younger Adili turned emotional remembering this conversation, grieving the loss of his brother who was in another part of the world. Jesse could not put into words what he is feeling following the death of his brother, but said that &#x27;there&#x27;s no amount of apology that can reverse what’s been done.&quot;As someone who knew Divine closer than anyone else, Jesse hopes the public remember him not just as a student-athlete, a basketball player, but for his character.  &quot;The thing is, my brother, people will know him for the good person that he is. Because I&#x27;m on the internet. I&#x27;m not seeing anybody speaking ill of my brother. He&#x27;s not violent. He&#x27;s very peaceful. And he&#x27;s a peacemaker. He doesn&#x27;t like disputes,&quot; he said. &quot;My brother is so young. He has not achieved anything yet. The little he is doing to help us is what we are sustaining on. He has not gone anywhere. He&#x27;s just a young guy. So he still has his life ahead of him. But sadly, his life was cut short,&quot; Jesse said. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2026/6/14/divine-adili-s-relatives-call-on-ateneo-to-revisit-safety-measures-0756">READ: Divine Adili&#x27;s relatives call on Ateneo to revisit safety measures</a></div>Despite not being able to fulfill all his dreams on the court, Jesse believes Divine has gone above and beyond in leaving a legacy and making his family proud. &quot;I love him. I&#x27;m proud of him. We are proud of him,&quot; Jesse said. The remains of Adili are currently at the Ateneo college chapel in the University&#x27;s Loyola Heights campus.  Ateneo announced on Tuesday Adili&#x27;s body will be transferred to the Arlington Memorial Chapels in Quezon City. &quot;As part of the preparations for repatriation and in accordance with the wishes of the Adili family, the venue of the wake for Chukwuemeka Divine Adili, beloved Ateneo student and athlete, will be moved to Arlington Memorial Chapels, Araneta Avenue, Quezon City, beginning 17 June 2026,&quot; it said in a post. &quot;The wake will be open from 12 noon to 8 pm every day, and daily masses will continue to be celebrated and offered for Divine at 5pm,&quot; the University added. The family of Adili is awaiting the completion of necessary documents before he is flown back to Nigeria. Meanwhile, investigations are still on-going regarding the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Adili and Baterbonia.On Tuesday, <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/16/ex-ateneo-players-appear-before-cidg-probe-1016">former members of the Ateneo Blue Eagles</a> appeared at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), while current players including EJ Kahipe Jr. showed up at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).<a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2026/6/16/baldwin-misses-nbi-probe-but-will-fully-cooperate-says-lawyer-1352">Absent once again was erstwhile head coach Tab Baldwin</a>, who together with team manager Christopher &quot;Epok&quot; Quimpo <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2026/6/15/ateneo-head-coach-tab-baldwin-resigns-in-wake-of-student-athletes-deaths-1424">resigned on Monday</a> in the wake of the tragedy.

It was a bittersweet moment for Jesse Adili when he found out that his older brother, Divine, was going to leave Nigeria and go to the Philippines nearly three years ago.

It was a bittersweet moment for Jesse Adili when he found out that his older brother, Divine, was going to leave Nigeria and go to the Philippines nearly three years ago.

'He still has his life ahead of him:' Divine Adili's brother Jesse recounts fond memories before his tragic death

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'He still has his life ahead of him:' Divine Adili's brother Jesse recounts fond memories before his tragic death

Paige Javier,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 16, 2026 04:40 PM PHT

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Updated June 16, 2026 11:02 PM PHT

Read More:

Ateneo de Manila University

Divine Adili

Jesse Adili

Tab Baldwin

Ateneo Blue Eagles

drowning incident

Rene Baterbonia

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