Rence “Forthsky” Padrigao has announced his departure from the Ateneo de Manila University, just a week after the school announced that he would not be playing in the upcoming UAAP season due to academics.
In a statement on Monday night, the Zamboanga City-native Padrigao said that his past mistakes have made it hard for him to return to the university.
“As I sit down to write this letter, I find myself with conflicting emotions. My schedule for enrollment in Ateneo is coming up, but for the first time after six years of considering this school my home, I am struggling very hard to do it. After everything that has happened, I feel that I can’t go back anymore, and I have to say farewell,” Padrigao said.
“Over the course of my stay in Ateneo, I made both right and wrong decisions. The past several months have been very difficult, and I fully acknowledge that this is because of mistakes that I made before when I was still in high school, which haunt me to the day. I want to express my deepest apologies because, even if I never intended to and I never physically hurt anyone, I have come to realize the gravity of my irresponsible words and actions and the pain they caused others,” he added.
Padrigao, who averaged 11.61 points, 4.93 assists, 4.22 rebounds, and 2.22 steals per game last season, was accused of sexual abuse before he entered college and until last year.
“In the past months, many conclusions were drawn about me, and I don’t take that against people, but I know in my heart I am not who they think I am. I want to take what I can from this experience and work to improve myself going forward,” he said.
“However, the past months have made this extremely difficult. I’ve kept my silence because my team needed to focus on the games, but I can’t understand how malicious the stories have become since we won, and now I have to answer even for errors I didn’t commit. That’s why attending classes has been getting harder and harder for me, and now even if I want to represent my university as an athlete, I can’t anymore. My mother, who has always been by my side, had to return to Zamboanga because of the pressure. She doesn’t deserve to suffer like this. My lapses don’t reflect the values that my parents taught me,” he added.
According to a report by Tiebreaker Times, Padrigao could move to another UAAP school or play overseas if there are offers.
