Hans Jürgen Oskar von Naguschewski, a retired technician, was checking in for his return flight to Frankfurt at Manila Airport when the incident happened.

Like other passengers required to remove belts and shoes off when walking through the X-ray machines, Naguschewski was asked to walk through the beeping machine for a second time.

Already without a belt, he decided one way to make the beeping stop would be to remove his next layer of clothes, startling security personnel and other passengers when he dropped his trousers.

Irritated with scrutiny

"He must have been annoyed that he was asked to walk through the X-ray twice so he took off his pants," airport security chief Angel Atutubo told local media.

Atutubo stressed that airport security officials were only following regulations in arresting Naguschewski.

"What we are doing is being done and implemented as standardized international regulation in all international airports in the world," he said.

Confusion leads to lasciviousness

But it seems the pensioner's act of "alarm and scandal" may simply have been the result of miscommunication. Naguschewski said in a Manila television interview he did not understand the procedure and apologized for his behavior.

"The man kept saying 'take off, take off' but the shoes were already off and only the pants left," he said, apparently referring to the fact that he was not wearing a belt. "So what else would I take off?"

The German has to stay in the Philippines pending the resolution of his case. It was still unclear Monday if airport officials would drop the charges after his apology.