Philippine Fencing Association speaks up about Maxine Esteban's transfer to Cote d'Ivoire

The Philippine Fencing Association on Wednesday spoke up about the transfer of Maxine Esteban to Cote d'Ivoire.

Maxine Esteban is heading to the 2024 Paris Olympics carrying the flag of Cote d'Ivoire after she switched federations in 2023.

According to the PFA, Sam Catantan is the top-ranked Philippine fencer in the women's foil category.

"Since 2017. Ms Catantan has produced better results overall in international tournaments approved and budgeted by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the PFA," the fencing body said.

"The results show Ms. Esteban's individual performance and medal haul are: one (1) bronze medal against Ms. Catantan's two (2) golds, one (1) silver, and two (2) bronzes. 

Ms Esteban's other medal contributions were from women's foil team events, of which Ms. Catantan was also a member."

According to the PFA, when Catantan and Esteban participate in the same competitions or go against each other, the former prevails over the latter.

In a statement sent to GMA Integrated News on Thursday, PFA president Rene Gacuma also said "The Philippine Fencing Federation stated that when they decided to delist fencer Maxine Esteban from the lineup for the 2023 SEA Games, Esteban was still recovering from an ACL injury. 

The PFA complied with the requirement of the PSC to submit names of the official lineup to the SEA Games organizers by January 1st, 2023."

Despite switching federations, the PFA said it supports Esteban's decision.

"Evidence of this was the association's decision to retain her entry in the World Championships under the Philippines when her application for an Ivory Coast passport was still being processed. Had the association not done this, she would have been unable to fence in this competition if her passport was not issued on time," PFA said in its Wednesday statement.

The PFA said it also waived the three-year statutory ban prescribed by the International Fencing Federation on switching nationalities.

"By doing so, the PFA made Ms. Esteban eligible to compete in the World Championships without disruption in her training and vie for the 2024 Olympic Games, instead of her having to wait until 2028 had the national association adhered to the International Fencing Federation's rule to ban for 3 years any fencer who switches nationalities," it said.

"Ms. Esteban accumulated more international ranking points by laudably using her private resources to compete in more overseas tournaments than what the PFA's limited budget allowed - ranking points that were still insufficient for her to qualify through the more competitive Asian zone," the PFA added.

PFA said it was obliged to send Catantan to vie for the remaining slots for the Olympics as she was the country's top foilist. Esteban, meanwhile, qualified as a national of Cote d'Ivoire.

The Philippine Olympic Committee also previously said it supports Esteban's switch of federations.

Paris-bound

In an interview on Martin Javier's report on 24 Oras on Monday, Esteban said her road to Olympics was an "emotional roller coaster."

"Believe it or not, the first thing I did was to kneel down and thank God for answering my prayers," Esteban said about her qualification. "It was such an emotional roller coaster. Everything that happened during the past year, all the scenes just flashed across my mind."

According to Esteban, she was hurt with her removal from the national team after her injury, but she kept the faith.

"The time when they removed me, the scars were both physical and emotional. I just really prayed to God and said 'Lord, ikaw na bahala. Please fight this fight for me,'" she said.

"This journey has been both heartbreaking and redeeming. I just really focused on doing well."

Still, Esteban said she will continue to carry the Philippines in her heart as she heads to Paris.

"Ever since I started fencing, it was always my goal to go to the Olympics for the Philippines. It was really sad that I needed to switch countries because it was not really part of the plan. I will carry the Filipino heart and pride with me wherever I am. I don't think you can ever wipe that out just because of a federation switch."

—JKC, GMA Integrated News