Baliwag Lechon Manok said sorry for its “no tattoo” clause in its job advertisement, which many found discriminatory.
The franchise earlier posted a job vacancy for a grill man with one of the qualifications requiring the applicant not to have a tattoo. This was spotted in a now-deleted post of Baguio City’s Public Information Office.
The job posting did not sit well with some Filipinos. They called on the grill and restaurant to stop discriminating qualified individuals with tattoo.
“Ang stereotypical naman po ng pagbabawal sa may tattoo. Parang sinasabi nila na marumi at masama sila kapag may tattoo. Nasa age of openness na tayo, sana magfocus yung mga business sa skills ng applicants mainly, hindi sa tattoos or such,” a Facebook user said.
“Tattoos don’t reflect the persona, but it has [their] own story shows how life goes for the person. Don’t judge! Baka yung maraming tattoo mas nakakaangat pasayo lalo na sa work ethics!” another Facebook user wrote.
“Tattoo is a part ng culture ng mga ninono natin…di kayo mag discriminate. ‘Wag tangkilikin mga ganitong kompanya,” an online user said.
“This BALIWAG LECHON is discriminating people w/ tats while we have the oldest tattoo artist in the world, Pinoy’s pride, Apo Whang Od,” a Twitter user lamented.
Chef and content creator Angelie Pench, who has a tattoo on most parts of her body, also joined the call to stop discriminating individuals with tattoo.
“[Ninety percent] ng katawan ko puno ng tattoo. Hindi naman naapektuhan ng tattoo ko yung ginagawa ko, yung pag hiwa ko, yung trabaho ko. Hindi rin naman nagiba yung lasa ng luto ko. Sumarap ako lalo haha! #stoptattoodiscrimanation mag 2023 na aydayo,” Pench said in a Facebook post.
In response, the company said the “no tattoo” requirement is “inconsistent” with their values.
“We do not discriminate against anyone regardless of their personal preferences, particularly, in this instance, with regard to having tattoos,” the franchise said in its statement.
The company also noted that some of their owners, shareholders and employees have tattoos and are being treated equally.
“We sincerely apologize for this mistake, and we will be making sure that all our current and future hiring ad releases will be reflective of this,” the statement read.
