Jollibee issues apology to trans woman turned away from office premises

Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) on Thursday issued an apology to Bunny Cadag, a transgender woman hired as a transcriber for an evaluation interview by the company.

"Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) sincerely apologizes to Bunny Cadag, who experienced an unfortunate incident as relayed in Bunny's Facebook post. We also apologize to everyone who was offended or affected by this," the statement read.

They added that the company is trying to reach out to Bunny to extend their apology personally.

Cadag posted about the incident late Wednesday evening, noting that she was hired on June 30. She and two other friends performed their task at the JFC Main Office, Ortigas from 8 am to 5 pm.

"Ito ang unang araw mula sa tatlong araw na sesyon ng Evaluation Interview at trabahong transkripsyon. Pinaalalahanan lang kaming maging neutral," Cadag shared.

A day before the second session, July 3, Cadag received a call from Louie Angsico, a contact person from Human Capitol Development, the company who helped hire out the job at Jollibee.

Angsico in the call informed Cadag that she was not welcome at the JFC Office.

Cadag wrote that she was told the following:

1. Hindi pa handa ang Jollibee Food Corporation sa LGBT Culture at mga katulad ko
2. Hindi pa sila welcoming sa idea na may Transgender sa loob ng isa sa mga kwarto nila at gumagawa ng transkripsyon
3. Ang JFC raw ay may paniniwalang Katoliko
4. Willing pa rin silang ibigay sa'kin ang trabaho thru "recording"

"Sa totoo lang, hindi ko alam kung ano'ng dapat maramdaman. Tinanong ko si Mr. Angsico kung saan/kanino eksakto nanggagaling ang diskriminasyong ito at kung paano ito nagumpisa — kung isa ba sa mga empleyado, o mga Store Heads na sumalang sa Interview, o sa mga guwardiya ng gusali," she detailed.

Cadag decided to refuse the transcription job and wrote emails to Angsico to find out who raised the issue of her gender identity.

She also sent a letter to Jollibee's official Facebook page, but received no reply.

"Ipinadala ko na rin ang Complaint Letter ko sa Official Website ng Jollibee. Sumagot sila. Nagpadala ng mensahe sa email ko, kaso, tunog 'automated'," Cadag said. "Sinabi ko sa Complaint Letter na hahayaan ko na muna silang imbestigahan ito sa loob ng tatlong araw. Kailangan nila ng oras at panahon, alam ko."

Following the advice of her friends, Cadag forwarded her complaint to the Commission of Human Rights, but they have yet to find an investigator for her concerns.

More than an apology, Cadag in her post explained that she wants an official explanation from JFC and stressed the importance of fighting discrimination that is costing members of the LGBTQ+ community their jobs.

She added that her experience serves as more proof that the Anti-Discrimination Bill should be passed and implemented swiftly.

"Gusto ko lang sanang makarinig ng pormal na paliwanag mula sa Jollibee Food Corporation. Higit sa anupaman, tumitindig ako, hindi lang para sa sarili, kung hindi para sa mas marami pang nakatatandang kapatid na LGBTQIA++, na nakaranas ng parehong diskriminasyon sa loob ng mga opisina o korporasyon," she asserted.

"Tumitindig tayo para sa mas marami pang parating na batang LGBTQIA++, na posible ring masuri muna ang 'gender identity' bago tanggapin sa mapipiling propesyon.

"Patnubayan nawa, pero higit kailanman, ngayon mas kailangan at dapat ipasa ang Anti-discrimination bill. Nawa ay hindi na ito ibinbin pa. Nananawagan ako. Nakikiusap. Tao sa tao," she added.

JFC in their statement declared that the incident was an "isolated" one and that they do not "in any way tolerate any disrespect, discrimination, harassment, violation or intimidation of any person, consistent with our company policy on diversity and inclusion."

GMA News Online has reached out to Cadag for her response to Jollibee's apology. — AT/LA/KVD, GMA News