The incident of a PWD couple at a popular coffee shop in Alabang went viral after they felt embarrassed because the wrong name was written on their order.
On July 22, Marivic Cruz shared on Facebook that she and her husband Daniel received Starbucks orders with the name “SPEECH” written on their cups. According to Marivic, she has a psychosocial disability while Daniel has a speech disability.
“Really, Starbucks!? This is so disappointing,” Marivic said. She added that Daniel showed their PWD ID while saying his name, but what was still written on the cup was “SPEECH.”
The National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) condemned the incident and called for action against discrimination. The NCDA said that such practices are against the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities (RA 7277 and RA 9442) and urged the coffee chain to conduct proper training for its staff to prevent such incidents.
Starbucks admitted and apologized. According to their statement, the employee mistakenly thought the “speech” written on the ID was the customer’s name. The company promised to implement stricter training for inclusivity and respect for all customers.
