Yet another story relating to discrimination against children with special needs in Cebu went viral on social media.

Facebook user Chriselle Marie Dabao on Sunday, December 27, shared how her brother, a child with special needs, was almost assaulted by a fellow customer in a branch of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (CBTL) at Taft East Gate in Cebu City and how the shop’s management did little to appropriately assuage the situation.

Dabao wrote that her family was having lunch in the coffee shop as they do every Sunday to unwind. She explained that prior to the incident, her brother had been in a perfectly good mood and was sitting at the edge of their table playing with a towel when a customer from another table approached them and asked them to stop her brother from doing so.

“…My mom and dad quickly apologized if Regur caused disturbance to him and his family. Informing him that Regur is a special child, and cannot fully understand and does not even talk. But instead of accepting my family’s apologies, he got mad and told us to discipline my brother for not behaving normally,” she wrote.

The customer, according to Dabao, did not stop there. She detailed in her post that he attempted to hit her brother with a chair and yelled profanities aimed at their family.

Apart from the aggression from the customer, Dabao also expressed her dismay at the staff’s attempt to diffuse the commotion. She detailed that her family was asked to switch to another table and were left bereft of any apologies from the management.

“What’s more disappointing is that the staff from Coffee Bean told me and my family to stop and move towards the other table so that the commotion will end. We did not even hear any apologies from the staff for blaming it on us for not changing seats,” she said.

She did not mention how the staff handled the customer.

“I am mad and sad, on how these people can easily look down on kids with special needs. How easily for them to ask for convenience just because they were uncomfortable. How the staff reacted on the commotion and how little their knowledge on what these kids and their family goes through everyday,” she added.

Kim Cruz, CBTL brand manager, told Rappler via text message on Tuesday, December 29, that the management reached out to the family and have since apologized for the incident.

“Our company core values underscore respect, trust, and friendliness – these are what we expect our team members to uphold at all times in order to create a safe place for our guests. Having said these, we are deeply disturbed and sorry for the disheartening incident that occurred in one of our stores at Cebu,” Cruz wrote.

“We would like to assure the community that we are currently taking this time to enhance our ability to respond to situations like this with better awareness and empathy,” she added.

Autism Society Philippines, a non-profit organization composed of parents, professionals, and advocates for individuals with autism, released a statement reacting to the viral post.

“The Autism Society Philippines is saddened by yet another viral incident in Cebu, involving a family with a non-verbal child on the spectrum and an angered father at a popular coffee outlet,” the statement read.

In the statement, the organization mentioned that in a now-deleted video, the enraged customer pointed to the child’s sitting at the table as a violation of social distancing rules.

“His aggressive response against the child with autism; however, was shameful and unwarranted. The action taken by the coffee shop was also wanting,” it read further.

The organization promised to work with multiple government agencies, private businesses, and the public to prevent a repeat of the incident.

Earlier in December, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, a luxury resort in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, drew flak online after a mother posted a review on Facebook narrating her harsh encounter with one of the staff who reprimanded her for the noise her child with autism was making while swimming. Mother and child were ultimately left with no choice but to retreat to their room despite their plans to enjoy the resort’s amenities.

This issue reached the CHR and its Central Visayas regional office, prompting the launch of separate investigations from both offices on the matter. – Rappler.com