MANILA, Philippines — “We both had a good laugh over that.” This was First Lady Liza Marcos’ reaction to criticisms over a viral video where she was seen taking the wine glass held by Senate President Francis Escudero and drinking from it during the vin d’honneur at Malacañang on Independence Day.
In a statement, shared by radio station dzRH on social media on Friday, Liza gave her side of the story on what transpired during the annual reception for diplomats. Malacañang has yet to issue a statement on the matter.
The viral clip was spliced from a Radio Television Malacañang video and posted on social media. The incident made the Senate President a top trending topic on X.
Liza began her statement with, “If truth be told, here’s what happened.”
The first lady said after greeting 82 ambassadors and other international organization representatives for over an hour on Wednesday, she and President Marcos entered the Palace’s ceremonial hall at 10 a.m. and were ushered to where Escudero and Speaker Martin Romualdez were standing.
“When Chiz saw me, he said, ‘Wow bilib din ako sa ’yo,’ may energy ka pa (Wow you still have energy) after standing and smiling for over an hour.’ Sabi niya (He said), ‘I’m sure you could use a drink,’” Liza said, calling Escudero by his nickname.
The first lady said she laughed and told Escudero, “You bet.”
“And so, I mischievously got his glass of champagne, took a sip and told him, Eww hindi naman malamig ang champagne (Eww, your champagne is not even cold). After that, I gave his champagne glass back to him and we both had a good laugh over that,” Liza said.
Liza said the entire exchange between her and Escudero took 10 seconds.
“I’ve known Chiz since my law school days, he studied in UP (University of the Philippines) and I went to Ateneo, we’ve been friends for like forever. So, whether I made him a waiter and or, he responded ‘like a gentleman,’ is between us,” the first lady said.
Escudero took over the Senate presidency last month following the resignation of Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Some social media users commented that Escudero was treated like a waiter and accused the first lady of being impolite or unnecessarily projecting power.
The Senate president earlier laughed off the incident and said, “I consider waiting on a lady (first or otherwise) to be gentlemanly.”
“Others may say that it is natural of me to be ‘under (henpecked),’ but for me, it is never too old-school to be gentlemanly and sociable,” Escudero said in Filipino.