Gomez vs. Gacuma: Here's What Allegedly Went Down at the 2025 SEA Games

Leyte 4th District Representative, Philippine Fencing Association (PFA) Director, and Second Vice President of the Philippine Olympic Committee, Richard Gomez, is facing a formal complaint for allegedly physically and verbally assaulting PFA President Rene Peter Paul Gacuma during the ongoing Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand.

In a letter submitted to Dr. Raul Canlas, the Chef d' Mission of the Philippine Delegation at the 2025 SEA Games (and shared to the media), Gacuma reported an "incident that occurred this afternoon [December 16] at the Fashion Island that serves as the official venue of the Fencing competition for the SEAG."

"Let it be known that I, Rene Peter Paul Lladoc Gacuma, 64 years old, was physically attacked by the subject at 3:25 p.m. while inside the venue as witnessed by the audience present in the galleries during the first day of this international fencing competition," the incident report added.

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Gacuma said in the letter that the disagreement was regarding the selection of athletes for the Women’s Individual Epee event. Rep. Gomez reportedly confronted Gacuma regarding the PFA Board’s unanimous decision to replace athlete Alexa Larrazabal with Hanniel Abella.

Nineteen-year-old Larrazabal ranks 354 in the Women's Epee Senior roster by the International Fencing Federation, while 32-year-old Hanniel Abella ranks 193. In the PFA ranking, Larrazabal is number one ("after the conduct of five national ranking tournaments conducted between January and June this year," Gacuma explained), while Abella is number 3.

Larrazabal represented the University of Santo Tomas at the UAAP Season 87 women's fencing championships last April 23, 2025, at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. The college freshman bagged the gold medal. She hails from Ormoc City, where Gomez was mayor from 2016 to 2022, and part of Leyte's 4th District, where the actor-turned-politician is the incumbent congressman.

Abella, on the other hand, won a silver medal at the 2019 SEA Games. She also won a gold medal that year in the Women's team epee, alongside Harlene Raguin, Anna Estimada, and Mickyle Bustos, a historic first for the Philippines in that event.

Gacuma clarified that the decision to drop Larrazabal was not arbitrary and was submitted based on the recommendation of the national fencing coaching staff headed by Rolando "Amat" Canlas. The reasons were detailed in the incident report:

1. unauthorized and frequent absences from national training without proper advice in the past 3 months;

2. non-compliance of the submission of required visa travel documents required on specific timelines to participate in international competitions, especially for the culminating training camp in Incheon, Korea, that was intended to attain gainful exposure and to enhance the subject athlete's level of performance for the current SEAG and;

3. unresponsiveness to constant and repeated reminders from the national coaching staff, including from fellow teammates, regarding her whereabouts.

These were reportedly reviewed, validated, and unanimously decided upon by the other PFA Directors, namely Leah Gonzalez (Secretary General-Treasurer), Atty. Michael "Mike" Abundo (Chairman), Carlos Angelo "Chips" Dayrit (Director), and Gacuma on the evening of December 14.

The next day, the letter narrated, the mandatory Team Managers Meeting was conducted at the Fashion Island Tournament Venue, and one of the items on the agenda was the submission of team member replacements. The matter of Abella, as a replacement for Larrazabal, was submitted, presented, and approved without opposition to the body.

Upon learning of the decision, Gomez reportedly sent Tagalog statements to Gonzalez: "Nasa Pattaya ako that is 2 hours away, pero susugurin ko kayo diyan!" and "pa Congress ko lahat ng Directors ng PFA para tignan natin kung may budget pa kayo makukuha".

Gacuma alleges that Gomez’s reaction was violent. The incident report described the following encounter on December 16 at 3:25 p.m., when Gomez was in the sporting venue to oversee the results of his daughter's score in the Women's Individual Epee event:

Atty. Mike Abundo, Mr. Chips Dayrit and myself went down from our seats in the gallery to present ourselves with the intention of also congratulating his recent silver medal achievement in the shooting event.

When I extended my right hand to congratulate Mr. Gomez, he planted his right foot heavily on my left foot, to limit my mobility. He squeezed my right thumb very hard like he wanted to dislocate it and simultaneously said "who gave you the authority to replace that athlete!?" "Na take up ninyo ito sa Board Meeting in my (Mr. Gomez's presence) ?!" Putang ina mo Rene gago ka!"

He turned to Mr. Chips Dayrit and said "kung buhay pa si Cito (the late Mr. Celso Dayrit) hindi niya eto papayagan. Di naman kayo champion athlete" to which Mr. Chips told Mr. Gomez "di mo kailangan bastosin ang father ko". Chips was insulted as his very own father who trailblazed the sport of fencing not only in the Philippines but in Federation Internationale d'Escrime and the Fencing Confederation of Asia was a fencer but was not a "champion athlete."

Our PFA Administrative Officer Ms. Sally Aramburo approached the commotion (witnessed by the audience on both sides of the gallery) and stood in between myself and Mr. Gomez. I managed to release my left foot he was stepping on and as I turned my back on him to leave, he reached out to strike the back of my head (nape area) with what I felt was a hard closed-fist right hook. Let me reiterate that my back was already turned away from him.

At that moment I felt agitated and felt my blood pressure shoot up. I was requested our Ms. Chie, a PFA staff volunteer to accompany me to the opposite side of the venue to free myself from other physical attacks at my person and sat myself where the medical station was.

Gacuma pointed out in the letter that he is a 64-year-old quadruple bypass survivor with a heart pacemaker.

The report continues:

What barely felt like 10 minutes seated, Ms. Leah Gonzalez and Ms. Sally Aramburo where present at my side and again Mr. Gomez walked towards me with a quick pace. While seated at the medical station and in the presence of the Thai medical volunteers, he literally capped my jawline forcefully with his right hand and said "di mo alam ang ginagawa mo! HR ka... HR ka lang, wala ka alam sa pagiging atleta!" "Sisipain kita diyan". He added "Alam ko saan ka nakatira!".

In his letter, Gacuma condemned the lawmaker’s actions as "unruly conduct" and "a disgrace to the Philippine Olympic Committee and the PFA." He expressed his intent to file formal legal charges for physical attack and verbal insults once he returns to the Philippines.

Gacuma has requested that the Chef de Mission assist in securing CCTV footage from the Thai organizers at Fashion Island to serve as evidence for the forthcoming legal proceedings.

In an interview with News5, Gomez claimed that it was Gacuma who escalated the situation.

"Nagkaroon kami ng confrontation dun sa venue ng fencing. Tumawag sa akin ‘yung former national coach namin which is national coach namin sa modern pentathlon. Ang ginawang desisyon, 'yung No. 1 fencer sa epee, the night before, bigla nilang tinanggal, hindi nila pinalaro," he said. "Never nangyari sa amin ‘yan na No. 1 fencer ka, tapos hindi ka pinalaro."

Regarding the allegations of physical attack, he said: "Eh siya lumalapit sa akin eh. Alangan namang halikan ko siya doon. Kung lumapit siya sa akin, eh di sige, kung ‘yun ang gusto niya, sino ba naman ako para umatras."

A video of the altercation has since been circulating online, although Gomez said he has yet to see it. "Hindi ko nakita ‘yung video eh, pero nagkaroon kami ng confrontation habang nag-uusap kami. I was so mad. When the country is fighting for a medal, hindi mo ipapasok ‘yung mahina na player."

This is not the first time the lawmaker has been involved in allegations of intimidation and verbal assault.

In August 2025, Gomez faced severe backlash from the media and fellow lawmakers after he posted screenshots of journalists' personal contact information (names, photos, and phone numbers) on Facebook, accusing them of a "paid media spin." This comes after he was questioned about a collapsed flood-control project in his district. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and House Deputy Speaker Ronnie Puno condemned the act. Gomez eventually issued a public apology on the House floor, acknowledging that he "could have handled it better" after being threatened with an ethics complaint.

Earlier, in March 2025, Palompon Mayor Ramon Oñate filed a disqualification case against Gomez due to allegations of intimidation. The petition claimed Gomez used his platform to spread "false and alarming" information and publicly shamed electoral board members by publishing their names, which allegedly incited his supporters to harass and threaten them online.

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