CEBU CITY – A string of charges have been filed against local personality Jude Bacalso over an incident where she confronted a waiter for calling her “Sir” and allegedly forced him to stand in front of her for almost two hours.

BACALSO

Charges of unjust vexation, grave scandal, grave coercion, grave threats, and slight illegal detention were filed against Bacalso before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.

The fiscal’s office received the complaint on Wednesday, August 28. The complaint was filed by the waiter, who requested not to be named.

The incident happened on July 21 in a restaurant in a Cebu City mall.

Although it has been more than a month since the incident happened, the waiter is still traumatized by the confrontation, the complainant’s lawyer, Ron Ivan Gingoyon, said.

“The victim is still traumatized but he’s trying to co-exist with the community. We’re also helping him but the incident has severe effects on his mental state,” said Gingoyon.

Although Bacalso has posted a public apology on his Facebook account days after the incident, Gingoyon said the former TV personality did not reach out to the waiter.

The incident became viral on social media when netizen John Calderon posted Bacalso’s encounter with the waiter.

Bacalso reportedly got irked when the waiter addressed her as Sir. Bacalso allegedly made the waiter stand in a parade rest position for approximately one hour and 49 minutes.

Calderon said the waiter was visibly distressed and even broke down when he intervened.

A prominent figure in the LGBTQIA community in Cebu, Bacalso initially expressed frustration over the alleged misgendering in a social media post.

She admitted that the waiter stood in front of her but not upon her order.

After drawing heavy backlash on social media, Bacalso apologized and admitted that she could have handled the situation differently.

“I also realized that in the impassioned pursuit of my advocacy, I could have done with a little measure of kindness, sadly quite absent in the ruckus this has all unnecessarily created when it was made public without our knowledge," Bacalso said in a Facebook post.

Bacalso has yet to publicly comment on the charges filed against her.