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Muntinlupa City Council probes Starbucks incident involving PWD couple
Muntinlupa City Council probes Starbucks incident involving PWD couple
The Muntinlupa City Council held a public hearing on July 31 regarding an incident involving a couple, both persons with disability (PWD), who felt humiliated when a barista at Starbucks Alabang branch wrote “speech” on their cups instead of their names.
Councilor Ting Niefes, chairperson of the Committee on Person with Disability, led the public hearing together with Vice Mayor Phanie Teves and Councilor Atty. Reggie Landrito, the committee's vice chairperson.
Present at the hearing were couple Marivic and Daniel Cruz; representatives and lawyers from Starbucks; and Dr. Caryl De Guzman, head of the Muntinlupa City Persons with Disability Affairs Office (MCPDAO).
On July 21, the Cruz couple went to the Starbucks branch at Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa.
Marivic Cruz has a psychosocial disability, while Daniel Cruz has speech and language impairment based on their PWD IDs issued by the Muntinlupa City government. Daniel was born with a cleft palate.
Daniel went to the Starbucks counter and ordered. The barista wrote “speech” on their cups.
“When he came back to our table, nag iba yung aura nya. Then he showed me the name written on his cup. Really, Starbucks!? This is so disappointing. And then you even called out my husband based on the name written on the cup? This is truly disappointing,” Marivic Cruz posted on Facebook.
She added, “The manager spoke with us and apologized. They acknowledged their mistake. But still, part of us — especially my husband — was humiliated by what happened. He rarely approaches people, and now it seems like he’s starting to feel traumatized even just by ordering at other restaurants. Knowing that I also have a social disability, this is just too much.”
The incident was condemned by the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), saying, “The report detailed a discriminatory practice wherein customers with disabilities were ‘tagged’ or marked based on the nature of their disabilities—an act the NCDA finds insensitive, inappropriate, and in violation of Republic Acts 7277 and 9442, the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities.”
It explained that “such actions perpetuate stigma and undermine the dignity and rights of persons with disabilities. The law clearly prohibits public ridicule and discriminatory labeling, and mandates the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in all areas of society.”
Niefes said instead of writing their names on the cup, the Starbucks barista instead wrote about the disability of Daniel Cruz, referring to the word “speech.”
“Ang karapatan ng ating mga PWD, hindi naman 'yung magkaroon sila ng special treatment. Karapatan nila 'yung equal treatment, na kung saan 'yung pantay-pantay bang pagtingin (The rights of our PWDs are not to have special treatment. They have the right to equal treatment, which is to be treated equally),” Niefes told Manila Bulletin.
Niefes said the Starbucks representatives apologized to the Cruz couple for the incident and admitted that what the cafe employee did was wrong. He said they told Starbucks to conduct seminars to brief employees about PWDs.
He said the public hearing was conducted to pay attention to PWDs in Muntinlupa. The committee will issue a report on the matter and will discuss it during the session of the Muntinlupa City Council on Aug. 4.
Under Republic Act 9442, which amended Republic Act No. 7277 (Magna Carta for Disabled Persons), public ridicule of PWDs is punishable, “defined as an act of making fun or contemptuous initiating or making mockery of persons with disability whether in writing or in words, or in action due to their impairment/s.”
For the first offense, penalties range from P50,000 to P100,000 or imprisonment of six to two years, or both.
Subsequent violations of the law will entail a fine of P100,000 to P200,000 or imprisonment of two to six years, or both.
Related story:
PWD couple accuses Starbucks Alabang of discrimination; barista writes 'speech' on their cups