Richard Gomez hits PH fencing president’s head, alleges favoritism; Gacuma says call was made by coaching staff, adds that Gomez threatened him

Leyte Representative, shotgun athlete, and actor Richard Gomez was caught on camera hitting the head of Philippine Fencing Association president Rene Gacuma on the sidelines of the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.

Gomez confirmed that he was the one in the video, according to Mark Salazar’s 24 Oras report on Thursday.

“Nakatayo ako, pinapanood ko ‘yung laro tapos lumapit sila sa akin. Nung kinakausap ko na sila, tumalikod eh. Lalapit sila makikipag-usap tapos tatalikuran mo ako, bastos ka talaga. Eh talagang tinamaan,” Gomez said.

“Aaminin ko talagang nagagalit ako, nainis ako sa desisyon nila,” he added, citing that a certain player from Ormoc, where Gomez serves, was removed from an individual event despite topping the ranking.

“Ang akin kasi rito, nag-qualify ‘yung bata, nag-qualify siya. Sa lahat ng qualifying events ng fencing, sumali ‘yan, nag-number one, hindi nila tinatalo, nahihirapan sila d’yan. And then bibigyan nila ng rason na hindi raw nagte-training, hindi raw nagpapakita. Sabi ko, ‘How sure are you?’ kasi taga-Ormoc ‘yan.”

Gacuma submitted an incident report to SEA Games Philippine chef de mission Dr. Jose Raul Canlas regarding the incident, saying he could not understand what Gomez did, being a former fencer, a parent of a fencer, and a congressman himself.

In a part of the letter shown on the report, Gacuma wrote, 

“Mr. Gomez walked towards me with a quick pace. While seated at the medical station and in the presence of Thai medical volunteers, he literally capped my jawline forcefully with his right hand and siad “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!. P——, F——“ cursing over and over again.”

“Hindi daw [ako] authority to replace the athlete. He squeezed my hand really hard. He stepped heavily on my left foot like I couldn’t move,” he said in an interview.

According to Gacuma, the said player was not fielded in the individual event because according to the coaching staff, the said player was non-compliant and was allegedly absent on trainings. The said player also did not receive government money during trainings abroad.

The said player still played in a team event, where they bagged a bronze medal.

“We are supposed to build character. Compliance is huge. Even though they are talented, but non-compliant to the behavior that is expected of them, who are athletes of the Philippine Sports Commission, who are [inaudible] by the funds of this government, it’s unfair to those struggling,” Gacuma said.

No forgiveness from both sides

However, neither side will ask for nor grant forgiveness to the other.

“I’ll not say sorry dahil mali ang ginawa nila. Tinanggal nila ang opportunity ng bata na maglaro sa SEA Games, tinanggal nila ang opportunity ng bata na magkaroon ng medalya, sinayang nila ang pondo ng gobyerno,” Gomez said.

“Everybody has a right to complain. Eh di hayaan mo siya mag-complain. I’ll not say sorry because masama ang ginawa nila. Ang paggalit ko sa kanya hindi bilang congressman, nagalit ako sa kanya bilang atleta at bilang opisyal ng sports association,” he said.

Gomez was part of the sporting clays team which bagged silver in the SEA Games.

“I was antagonized, I was assaulted verbally and I was insulted,” Gacuma said.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA Integrated News