This hotel in Manila faces scrutiny over alleged body shaming, unprofessionalism towards interns
Diamond Hotel Philippines, a luxurious hotel located by Manila Bay, has responded to a social media post alleging that one of its managers and an HR representative engaged in body-shaming behavior towards a job applicant.
"Diamond Hotel Philippines is aware of a recent Facebook post that brought attention to an alleged incident concerning an internship applicant," it said, adding that it is investigating the matter and will "take appropriate actions."
"We want to assure everyone that the hotel does not tolerate such behavior and take these claims seriously. The hotel is currently investigating the matter to take appropriate actions," the statement continued. Diamond Hotel has also limited those who could comment on their posts.
This comes after Carlo Macuja Tandico, the boyfriend of the internship applicant, called out Diamond Hotel, recalling how "devastating and demotivating" the incident was for his girlfriend.
According to him, his girlfriend was looking for a 3 to 5-star hotel where she could do her internship and eventually received a text last Feb. 22 for an interview.
However, things turned out differently when his girlfriend went to the hotel and spoke with one of the managers. As per Tandico, his girlfriend was allegedly called "gasul" for her appearance.
"She went last Thursday and spoke with one of your Managers and she was called 'Gasul' kasi daw, 'Maliit kana nga, mataba pa.' [The] manager added, 'That's true! Magreduce ka!'" Tandico wrote in the Facebook post.
He continued, "Sadly, she didn't make it. I can see the frustration and disappointment on her face. How she was sad and demotivated that day. Worst? CRYING."
"We get the point; you have physical requirements. But the way your managers act and speak? TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE and UNPROFESSIONAL!"
Tandico concluded his post by saying, "I'm calling you out Diamond Hotel! I don't want others to feel what my girlfriend had experienced. She deserves an apology. Hence, this shouldn't be normalized."
'Is it really hard to be kind these days?'
The post garnered more than 124,000 reactions and 45,000 shares as of writing.
In the comment section, some social media users aired the same sentiments as Tandico, saying that his partners' experience is also the same as theirs.
"I'm seeing messages from y'all. I think that's how they treat interns. Everybody is dealing with life. Is it really hard to be kind these days?" Tandico wrote in the comment section.
"Sa mga nagre-reach out sakin about their employment/internship experience sa Diamond Hotel, sa lahat ng nakaranas din nito, isang mahigpit na yakap. I didnt expect na ganito karami na din yung naka-experience nito sa Management ng Diamond Hotel. I'll make sure po to get back once I received a feedback from them," he added.
Other social media supported Tandico's sentiments regarding body shaming and the hotel's alleged unprofessionalism.
"It's a shame that your business is under "hospitality," but you allow your colleagues to work with such unprofessional behavior?! You must take this seriously, or else it might affect the expectations of your business and future guests," one user commented.
Meanwhile, Diamond Hotel Philippines also commented on Tandico's post, saying that they acknowledge the post and are currently investigating the matter.
"We acknowledge your post and we are currently investigating the matter. We assure you that we take your posting/complaint seriously and we will take any and all appropriate actions as may be warranted under the situation. We will apprise you of the results of the investigation," it wrote.
Tandico then described the alleged person in the recruitment team who was with the manager when the incident happened.
"Don from [the] Recruitment team knew [who was] with him during the interview. A bald, body shamer manager, his age is around 45-50's. You know what you did! C'mon," he wrote.
Social media users also replied to the comment of Diamond Hotel, asking them to "impose sanctions on those who are liable to avoid this happening again."