We don’t know if this story is good or bad for Starbucks Coffee — particularly their pricey mugs. In this case, the mug involved reportedly cost PHP295.
A Makati City Jail official is in hot water after he was accused of stealing a mug from the Starbucks Coffee branch at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Carpark.
“In his official complaint, Starbucks Coffee security guard Adamson Sienes said he saw the jail official grab a pack of mugs from their merchandise rack about 2:33pm last Sat, Feb 6,” reports Aie Balagtas See in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Sienes related in his affidavit, “Napansin niya siguro na baka nakita ko siya ng damputin niya iyong pakete ng mugs kaya lumapit siya sa akin at itinanong habang patagong hawak niya pa rin sa kanyang kamay ang pakete ng mugs (He might have thought that I saw him pick up the pack of mugs before he approached me and asked me about something, while trying to hide in his hands the package of mugs).”
Sienes went on to say, “Pagkatapos nito ay tumayo siya sa may bandang kanan ng pintuan at nagmasid bago lumabas at pagkatapos ay tuluyang lumabas na hawak pa rin ang item. Sa pagkakataong yon ay inapproach ko siya (Later, he stood to the right of the door, looked around before going out and leaving, still holding the item. At that point, I approached him).”
However, Sienes said that when he asked the jail official if he could inspect the paper bag for the item but the jail official refused. “Bigla nalang siyang nag-iskandalo at nagpakilalang pulis. Sa pagkakataong ito, pinigilan ko siyang makaalis hanggang dumating ang mga security ng UST (He suddenly made a scene and claimed to be a cop. At this point, I stopped him from leaving and called for the security guards of the UST).”
The jail official refused to yield the paper bag even when he was already at the University Belt area police precinct. This “prompted the cops and the guards to take the case to the Manila Police District’s General Assignment Section (MPD-GAS).”
The report noted: “At MPD-GAS, Sienes raised the number of times the jail official went to restroom.”
So, when asked whether he’s sure if the mugs were in Rafanan’s possession, he said: “Hindi ko na po masabi kong nasa loob pa po ng bag niya dahil sa haba na po ng oras na umagos at ilang beses na rin po siyang nagpunta sa restroom ng mga opisinang pinagdalhan sa amin (I can’t say if the item is still in his bag because several hours have passed and he went to the restroom of the police stations several times).”
In the end, though, no Starbucks mug was found on the jail official. Sienes, though, has implied that the jail official must have found a way to get rid of the mugs during his restroom trips.
The investigation is still ongoing.
