THE RECENT incident involving a Starbucks store deciding on their own about what discounts to give to senior citizens is a wake-up call.
I am sure that it is not the only Starbucks that is playing with the rules, so to speak. We are lucky that someone caught them in the act and reported them on social media. Otherwise, they could have gone on and on without anyone of us knowing about it.
It seems to me that even if the laws are in black and white, the bad faith of some companies would give them the motivation to play tricks on their customers.
What surprises me, however, is how the netizens have reacted to this violation, and it seems that it will not be easy to appease them.
The proof of that is the netizens are demanding that a lawsuit be filed against the Rustans Group, the owner of Starbucks, saying that an apology is not enough.
Cong. Joey Salceda even suggested that Starbucks should give free coffee and pastries to the citizens, but it seems that would not be enough either.
Which agency should take the lead in making sure that the laws pertaining to senior citizen’s discounts are strictly implemented? Should it be the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) or the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)?
I think that DILG should implement it through the local government units (LGUs), with the close monitoring and supervision of the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC).
In fairness to the NCSC, they are under staffed and underfunded, and that is one problem that the Congress has to solve.
PROTECTION FROM ONLINE CRIMES
The www.legaldictionary.net defines cybercrime as “any criminal activity that entails the use of a computer system, computer technology, or the internet”.
As someone who is familiar with computers, I would say that that definition also covers mobile phones, because these are basically small computers also.
It would also cover any activity that is offline, as long as a computer or a mobile phone is used.
The www.uslegal.com defines a computer as “a device that computes, often a programmable machine, which can perform a programmed list of instructions and respond to new instructions given to it”.
My own definition is much simpler. I define a computer as any device that has a processor, a display and a keyboard or keypad.
Whenever we talk about computers, it is implied that one way or the other, the Department of Information Communications Technology (DICT), the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the DTI and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) would be involved.
However, whenever we talk about crime, it is also implied that the Department of Justice (DOJ), the DILG, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) would be involved.
In layman’s language a crime is just like any other crime, except that it becomes a cybercrime whenever a computer is used, in whatever way.
With all the many government agencies involved in enforcing cybercrime laws, how do we ensure the protection of our citizens against these crimes?
As far as I am concerned, I would always say that the LGUs should take the lead, under the supervision of the DILG, assisted by the other agencies./PN
