Albay Rep. Joey Salceda orders Starbucks to have seniors and persons with disability (PWD) eat at their coffee shops for free as an apology.
“You violated the law. Saying sorry is not enough. We will consider initiating prosecution,” said Salceda in a hearing on Wednesday.
Salceda said Starbucks could opt to make “a buy-one-take-one offer to senior citizens and PWDs, like buy one croissant, take one beverage” because “sorry is not enough.”
“There are 28 days to February 14 (to make this gesture). Yung binili nila plus one drink, para maalala ninyo kasalanan ninyo,” he said.
“Hindi ako titigil hangga’t hindi ninyo pinagsisisihan yan. Otherwise, we just have to go through the natural process, which is to prosecute Rustans Coffee Corporation. It is a violation, it is a case,” he concluded.
Starbucks became controversial after limiting the 20 percent discount for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs). The coffee shop franchise later apologized, saying that it was due to a wording error.
Meanwhile, the operations director of Starbucks Coffee Angela Cole was noncommittal to Salceda’s statements but promised she would pass on the lawyer’s message to her managers.
