Albay Rep. Joey Salceda apparently forgot that the hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee was livestreamed on Facebook when he let out an expletive twice during the discussion of the bill penalizing bulk cash smuggling into or out of the Philippines.
During the May 3 hearing, Salceda muttered “t*ngina!” while the committee, which he leads, discussed in detail the provisions of the substitute bill that provides for stiff penalties for those who would smuggle US$10,000 worth of foreign currencies and other monetary instruments.
Addressing the committee secretary, Salceda said: “Can you amend this? Na pag below $10,000 may presumption of innocence? Of good faith? T*ngina.”
Quickly realizing his mistake, the lawmaker muttered: “Ay sorry, paki-erase nga noon!”
Less than 10 minutes later, Salceda cursed again after learning from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has a separate currency declaration form that anyone carrying foreign currency must fill out.
Section 4 of the substitute bill stated that those who plan to transport $10,000 worth of foreign currency or foreign monetary instruments must fill a form under oath from the BOC.
“Dapat one form lang tayo t*ngi—… Ano ba yan!” Salceda exclaimed, drawing laughter from the other attendees in the virtual committee hearing.
Earlier in the meeting, Salceda said he lacked sleep as he was caught in traffic the previous night. Maybe that’s why he’s short-fused.
Listen to Salceda accidentally blurt out an expletive at the 1:42:02 of this Facebook livestream:
