Was Valdez provoked?

Alabang Country Club general manager Cynthia Matias said yesterday Muay Thai Association of the Philippines president Robert Valdez apologized profusely for striking a security guard after he was prevented from entering the ladies room and questioned if he was a bodyguard detailed to a POC official voting in Friday’s elections.

Matias said Valdez insisted a security guard held the sleeve of his POC polo barong thrice and the allegedly rude behavior provoked him into throwing a punch to the stomach. The security guard, Erman Buenvenida, 29, was knocked down on the ground. He was later attended to by club nurse Amelia Flores and sought a medico legal certificate from the Ospital Ng Muntinlupa.

An eyewitness, Marilou Abadiano, wrote an account of what happened. Her testimony will show if Valdez was provoked or not. Buenvenida was advised by POC Comelec chairman Victorico Chaves to report the matter to the Alabang police for blottering. The security guard’s statement was received by desk officer Rudolph Delmendo of the police headquarters at the Alabang Town Center.

Whether the tugging of Valdez’ sleeve was justification for the assault is something the POC ethics committee will look into. Newly-reelected POC president Jose Cojuangco’s spokesman Joey Romasanta said the matter will definitely be taken up by the ethics committee and Chaves said he will request for the club’s incident report. Valdez, of course, will be given his day in court.

Under club rules, a guest is the responsibility of the member who invited him to the premises. The quirk is Valdez was not listed in the POC sheet of invited guests and had no business attending the elections. Valdez showed up bringing a letter for IOC representative Frank Elizalde. He was therefore an uninvited guest.

It was when Buenvenida questioned Valdez’ status when the fisticuffs broke out.

The incident happened around 11:40 a.m. as Valdez mistakenly made his way to the ladies room. Buenvenida told Valdez to go to the men’s room instead. Then he asked if Valdez was a bodyguard. There were earlier instructions for the security force to bring bodyguards and drivers to a separate area in the club.

In Buenvenida’s sworn statement, Valdez was quoted as saying, in reaction to the question: “Bakit, mukha ba akong bodyguard? Baka hindi mo ako kilala? Kay Secretary Pardo ako.” The punch to the stomach came soon after.

In a news report, Valdez said he couldn’t remember what happened but just saw the guard sprawled on the floor.

Apparently, Valdez came from former Secretary of Finance Titoy Pardo’s home in the Ayala Alabang Village and that’s why he mentioned his name.

Club members were up in arms when news of the incident spread, decrying the actions of a martial arts practitioner on a security guard who was presumably only doing his duty.

Chaves, a club member, said he did not invite Valdez to attend the elections. When confronted by Buenvenida, Valdez could’ve easily asked any POC staff to vouch for his identity as an NSA president and the security guard would’ve backed off for sure.

That afternoon, Valdez’ lawyer Jose Villamor was reportedly in communication with the club OIC for security Marco Arroyo for an “amicable settlement.” But Buenvenida’s security agency, Right Eight, owned by the Antonio family, was rumored to be filing a case against Valdez especially after he came out in yesterday’s papers claiming he was provoked thrice by Buenvenida.

“Maybe, Mr. Valdez should’ve just kept quiet since he already apologized but now, he’s putting the club at a bad light by insisting he was provoked,” said a club official.

Despite the incident, Valdez was allowed to stay in the club and deliver the letter to Elizalde. He left after the elections.

Today is the deadline for entries to our three-part NBA Contest where 30 winners will go home with three NBA laptop bags (convertible to backpacks with embroidered stitching of the NBA logo), five NBA watches (teams available – the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers), 30 NBA Tip-Off T-shirts, five NBA USBs, 10 NBA ID laces and 20 NBA plastic folders.

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You may submit as many entries to the three different parts as you wish but there will be no multiple winners, meaning a winner in one part may no longer be a winner in the other two parts. We will announce the Parts 1, 2 and 3 winners in this column tomorrow. Prizes, donated by La Estrella del Norte and NBA Asia (Hong Kong office) may be claimed starting Thursday.