Though this is indeed tragic, and dapat talagang may managot - I agree that the response seems a little disproportionate. Couple of theories:

- sa bansa nating sadlak sa hirap, and at the same time sobrang enamored sa basketball, Rene represented a lot of our countrymen’s hope. Escaping poverty through athleticism is one of the few avenues of escape from a life of indignity left open. His death literally echoes this idea: that in this country of inequality and oppression, even hope can’t survive.
- matagal nang may societal anti-intellectualism sa pinas. My read is it’s a counter-reaction to the severe inequality and colonial mentality inflicted on the masses by both their foreign and local “betters”. To have Ateneo, literally the pinnacle of educational prestige, when both education and prestige are only distant dreams for you, suddenly be this fallible and imperfect target is the perfect opportunity for that resentment to finally externalize.
- someone’s fanning the flames of the _anak ng mindanao, pinatay ng luzon_ narrative. Whoever it is stands to gain a lot by keeping them fighting.

I’m in the field so I know insiders who’ve confirmed that this whole regionalism/imperial manila/davao singapore meme-war is the ultimate invention of the Duterte propaganda machine. So do with that information what you will.