Tiangco apologizes to Senate for being photographed without his shoes on

Navotas Rep. Tobias "Toby" Tiangco on Tuesday apologized to the Senate, sitting as the impeachment court, after he was reportedly photographed inside the chamber without his shoes on.

 

"I did not mean to demean this honorable court or show disrespect. I was just tired, I wanted to relax a bit," Tiangco said before he was questionned by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

 

"Buti na lang ho hindi butas ang medyas," he then quipped, jokingly. 

 

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, presiding officer of the impeachment court, accepted the lawmaker's apology.

 

Santiago, for her part, said she would have also accepted his apology, saying Tiangco probably just wanted to "preserve the quality of [his] leatherware."

 

She likewise joked that it was probably because Tiangco did not receive his priority development assistance funds (PDAF), which the lawmaker had alleged was withheld from him after he refused to sign the impeachment complaint against former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

 

During Monday's trial, Tiangco recounted how the House of Representatives allegedly railroaded the impeachment complaint against Corona.  He likewise testified that there was pressure on lawmakers to sign the complaints against Corona and Gutierrez. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News