REMEMBER the time when officials of the Philippine fencing team created a commotion in the middle of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand?
Those involved were then Philippine Fencing Association president Rene Gacuma, his predecessor and federation board of director Richard Gomez, national coach Rolando ‘Amat’ Canlas, and top fencer Alexa Larrazabal, who, unfortunately, was at the center of the storm.
READ Richard Gomez accused of assault by PH fencing president
Nine months since the incident, three of those are no longer connected with the PFA, as per SPIN.ph sources.
Gacuma, a former national fencer, has retired from the association following the election of lawyer Adolfo Martin Gonzales as new PFA president.
Canlas left the team at the start of the year, and has now relocated to Australia together with his family. He reportedly has found a job there as a coach in a fencing club.
READ 'Goma' shares side on altercation with PH fencing president
Gomez, on the other hand, made a bid to to gain a seat as member of the PFA board but failed to get enough votes. Had he made it to the board, he could have ran for president again.
As things stand, Larrazabal is the only one left from that incident and is currently part of the fencing team that competed in the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
For a recap, this was how the incident unfolded.
On the eve of Larrazabal's match in the SEA Games, the federation made a decision to replace her in the epee competition, her pet event, where she is considered the country's best.
Gacuma said the decision was made on the recommendation of the national fencing coaching staff under Canlas, citing a number of reasons.
Larrazabal was replaced by Hannie Abella.
When the decision reached Gomez, who, by the way is a sitting congressman representing the fourth distrioct of Leyte, the former matinee idol fumed. He sought out Gacuma and confronted him.
During the heated discussion Gomez, also currently Philippine Olympic Committee vice president, hit Gacuma behind his nape. The incident was caught on video and went viral.
Both parties threatened to file a case against each other, but nothing it seemed, came out of it.
Later, Gomez delivered a privileged speech and admitted that he indeed had hit Gacuma in the nape. During the same speech, Gomez also accused several fencing officials of using their authority for their own personal and business interest.
By the way, speeches made inside the halls of Congress are not subject to the libel law - Gerry Ramos
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