Tab Baldwin’s estranged wife claims she warned Ateneo: Children ‘not safe’ around coach

MANILA, Philippines – Tab Baldwin’s estranged wife Efi has come forward to speak against the Ateneo men’s basketball team coach in relation to the deaths of players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili.

In a video posted on Saturday, June 13, by New Zealand-based lawyer Tudor Clee, Efi claimed she had repeatedly warned Ateneo to keep children away from Tab, but was instead shot down and silenced.

“At the time I repeatedly told the [Ateneo de Manila] University that children are not safe around him and it was their duty to remove him. I urged them to move him away from the campus, and they proceeded to launch a campaign of intimidation and silencing,” she said.

Efi alleged that she had been legally married to Tab since 2011, but escaped in early 2020 for her and their kids’ safety.

“This video is because of his latest interview and when he talks about his family, I want to make sure that he doesn’t represent me or my kids,” she said.

Efi said the deaths of Baterbonia and Adili — who both drowned during a team-building activity on June 8 in Dipaculao, Aurora — were “not only predictable, but preventable.”

“I urge the Filipinos and the police there to keep asking why he was still allowed around children in spite of these warnings,” she added.

Tab’s daughter, Giota Kalogirou, took to X to back her mother’s claims. She also directly confirmed the video’s legitimacy to Rappler.

“My mom BEGGED them to assign him into a different team — a team with adults, away from the university, away from minors, and they not only ignored her but made her life [a] living hell for months. Keep asking questions,” she wrote in a post.

The controversial posts came just a day after the Ateneo coach apologized on video, following four days of complete silence since the death of his players.

“As a coach, we are entrusted with the growth of our basketball players, the development of these young men into future professionals. But mostly, as a coach, I’m entrusted by you, the parents, and the families, with first and foremost, their well-being. And in this, I feel I failed. And I’m sorry,” the American-Kiwi coach explained in a video posted on the university’s official social media pages on June 12.

The Department of Justice had earlier received a request for the issuance of an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order against Tab. – Rappler.com