Drugstore ignores harassment of child mistaken as shoplifter

Drugstore ignores harassment of child mistaken as shoplifterCOTABATO CITY -- The local management of the Mercury Drug refused to apologize for the maltreatment of a 16-year-old student of the Notre Dame University (NDU) here whom a security guard mistook for a shoplifter last Monday.Relatives of Li Owen Chua, who, as a child, is protected by Republic Act 7610, also known as Anti-Child Abuse Law, said officials of the Mercury Drug are simply passing the blame on the security guard, whose surname is Biñez, as an excuse.Binez belonged to the Asiatic Security and Detective Agency, a contracted security provider for Mercury Drug outlets in Cotabato City.The firm’s district manager told the mother of Chua last Wednesday the Mercury Drug cannot apologize for the victim’s sad experience in the hands of the security guard.The and//www.ndbcnews.com.ph/ www.ndbcnews.com.ph learned on Friday that Chua was summoned by his dean at the NDU, who also wants to file a separate complain against the drugstore since he was in proper school uniform when he was harassed on mere suspicion he was a shoplifter.Chua, 16, is a first year college student of NDU.Efforts by the and//www.ndbcnews.com.ph/ www.ndbcnews.com.ph to get an explanation from the management of the drugstore were futile.Chua was to buy a bottle of lotion from the grocery section of the drugstore, but changed his mind and decided to leave and return to the NDU campus.Chua left the merchandise he was supposed to buy at one of the display racks of groceries inside the Mercury Drug along Sinsuat Avenue, near the Cotabato City plaza.Biñez grabbed Chua by the wrist and rudely ordered him to turn over the bottle of lotion which the former thought he had pocketed.Binez also searched Chua's bag, but found nothing. Helambasted Chua with invectives as he forced the child to confess to having stolen something from the drugstore.Chua left the drugstore weeping after having been embarrassed by Biñez, who himself discovered that the bottle of lotion was indeed on the display shelf where the minor had left it.