The previous Christmas yielded a lot of heartwarming stories. But the feud between two of the highest fencing officials — Rene Gacuma and Richard Gomez — was not part of it.
In a lengthy interview with DAILY TRIBUNE, Gacuma stressed that there was no effort from Gomez to apologize following his “life-threatening” assault on him during the first day of the fencing competition of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games at the Fashion Island Shopping Mall in Bangkok.
The 64-year-old Philippine Fencing Association (PFA) president said he remains firm on his decision to bring the Leyte lawmaker and star athlete to court and file charges against him before the International Olympic Committee and the Ethics Committee of the House of Representatives.
“There was no Christmas truce or apology from him whatsoever,” Gacuma said in a telephone conversation a day after Christmas on Friday morning.
“My friends are saying that I’m facing a wall — a very tall wall. But I have to take the necessary action not because I’m mad or angry, but because it’s the right thing to do. I was assaulted. My life was threatened. I have to follow my morality and do what I think is right.”
An award-winning actor before becoming a PFA director and second vice president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), Gomez pulled off a stunt when he assaulted Gacuma following the federation’s decision to replace Alexa Larrazabal in the women’s individual epee event.
Larrazabal, who is Gomez’s constituent in Ormoc City, was the top fencer in women’s epee but her dismal attendance in the weeks leading to the biennial meet, prompted the PFA to replace her with Hanniel Abella. Instead, Larrazabal was re-assigned to the team event.
It didn’t sit well with Gomez, who took the three-hour drive from Pattaya to Bangkok just to confront national team coach Amat Canlas.
He, however, vented his ire on Gacuma, who approached him at the venue to extend his congratulations following the lawmaker’s victory in the shotgun event.
“I extended my right hand, and he squeezed it so hard while stepping on my left foot with his right foot. He tried to break my thumb. I was shocked. He said, ‘(expletive) mo Rene, who gave you authority na palitan ‘yung athlete?” reiterated Gacuma, his voice shaking in fear while recalling the incident that posed a serious threat to his life.
Gacuma, a Covid survivor who underwent quadruple bypass surgery that left him with a pacemaker, decided to walk away when Gomez struck him from the nape, a scary scene that was caught by CCTV cameras outside the competition venue.
“It was like a punch at the back of my head. I feared that the wires of my pacemaker were about to be detached. Since we were in a mall, a lot of people saw it.”
But the assault didn’t end there.
While resting in another part of the venue, Gacuma said Gomez approached him yet again and grabbed his jaw — just a few inches from his neck.
“With his right hand, he squeezed my jaw really hard and he said, ‘(Expletive) you Rene. (Expletive) mo. Hindi ka atleta, HR ka lang!” Gomez said.
“He squeezed my jaw really hard that I was just a few inches from getting choked and running out of air. My life was seriously threatened.”
Gacuma filed an incident report before Team Philippines’ chief of mission George Canlas. However, POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino stressed that they are already old enough and they should settle it among themselves.
On the contrary, Gomez hinted at a possible legal action against Gacuma.
“My question is, why would the PFA president decide at the last minute to pull out its best women’s epée player and replace her with the number three player at the SEA Games?” Gomez, a two-time SEA Games gold medalist, said in a previous statement.
“What is even more confusing is that if Alexa Larrazabal was indeed guilty of all the above allegations, including claims that she did not prepare enough for the SEA Games, why did they allow her to play in the team event instead?”
“In fact, they even assigned her to serve as team anchor.”
Gacuma said he is leaving it up to the PFA board of trustees if it still wants to retain Gomez as member.
“It’s up to them if they will still keep him. I will abstain myself if ever,” he said.
“But as far as I know, I can’t work with that person anymore.”