Complainant wants judge out of case vs hotel chain for being a customer

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MANILA, Philippines — A complainant, who sued hotel officials for supposedly not giving the proper senior citizen discounts, has asked for the inhibition of the judge handling the case for being also a customer of the same hotel chain.

Copies of an omnibus motion filed last June 25 and released on Monday showed complainant Melinda Rada asking that the Presiding Judge of the Pasig City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 155 inhibit herself from the proceedings due to a social media post.

Rada’s camp claimed that the presiding judge attended a birthday celebration at the Marco Polo Hotel in Pasig where staffers supposedly treated her kindly.

“These cases involve Marco Polo Hotel Ortigas and the accused is the President of the entity which owns the said hotel and conducts business as a hotel.  However, it appeared that the Honorable Presiding Judge recently enjoyed the services, facilities, and amenities of Marco Polo Hotel Ortigas,” Rada’s camp said in their omnibus motion.

“Without casting aspersion on the person of the Honorable Presiding Judge, it is respectfully submitted that said recent event behooves the Honorable Presiding Judge to voluntarily recuse herself from these proceedings in order to preserve the public trust and faith in the independence and integrity of this Honorable Court,” the complainant added.

Last December 2023, Rada asked the Pasig City government to revoke the hotel’s permit to operate for allegedly violating the Senior Citizen’s Act — as she and her sister, who is a senior citizen, was not given any discount for a room they booked because it was on a promo.

READ: Senior citizen asks Mayor Vico Sotto to revoke hotel’s permit to operate 

However, Rada said no evidence was presented by the hotel when asked for proof that the promo has clearance from the Department of Trade and Industry — prompting her to file complaints before the Pasig City Prosecutor’s Office.

READ: Senior citizen files suit after being denied discounts on ‘promo’ with no DTI approval 

According to Rada’s camp, the motion — and an opposition to the motion, has been filed before the said Metropolitan Trial Court but no ruling has been issued as of now.

In the opposition filed by the counsel of Lily Te Pedrosa, said to be president of the hotel, the Judge’s act of “availing of the services of Marco Polo Hotel Ortigas does not necessarily amount to bias and prejudice.”

According to the defendant, the hotel itself is not a party to the case, as the complaints were against Pedrosa and another official of the hotel — and not the establishment itself.

“The mere act of enjoying the services of Marco Polo Hotel Ortigas — which is not even a party to the case — does not amount to bias and partiality,” Pedrosa’s camp claims.

“Verily, the mere act of availing of and enjoying the services of a hotel which is merely tangentially involved in a case which the judge is handling cannot logically lead to the conclusion that the judge is automatically biased and impartial.  In fact, this argument even borders on non sequitur,” they added.

Discount for seniors was a much-discussed topic at the House of Representatives earlier this year.

Last January 17, an international coffeehouse chain was reprimanded by lawmakers over its alleged erroneous implementation of a discount policy for senior citizens and persons with disability (PWDs).

READ: P125 per week discount for seniors’ grocery items takes effect in March 

At the hearing of the House committee on ways and means, chairperson and Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda asked the coffee shop to reimburse its customers by  offering a drink and a croissant to seniors and PWDs.

READ: Lawmakers call out coffee chain over ‘wrong’ senior, PWD discount policy 

Eventually, it was discovered that many stores are also not strictly observing the discount for seniors and PWDs, aside from the fact that the discounts are no longer enough to cover the needs of the said sector.