A reporter from Brazil slammed the Philippines’ Ambassador to Brazil after being caught on video assaulting her Filipino helper.
According to Fabiano Andrade, Globonews tried to contact Marichu Mauro, the Philippines ambassador to Brazil, after copies of the videos were submitted to their news department, but she did not respond.
Andrade said that Brazil has more than 130 embassies, “and all of its workers deserve respect.”
“We are concerned that it will not happen again…The Filipino people, known worldwide for their work, do not deserve to be represented by a person with this behavior,” he said.
On Sunday, Brazilian news channel GloboNews released a report showing Mauro mistreating and berating her helper inside the diplomatic residence.
The report said the helper was a 51-year-old Filipina who was “physically assaulted many times, many days.” The security camera caught the incidents on video. The employees who wished not to be identified documented the abuse.
One of the videos showed the ambassador slapping the victim and pulling the helper’s ear in another video. Mauro also hit the victim with an umbrella in a separate incident.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Marichu Mauro was ordered to return home immediately following video footage released.
Brazil reporter slams PH envoy’s abuse to helper
“The Philippine ambassador to Brazil has been recalled effective immediately to explain the maltreatment of her service staff,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the household service staff left Brasilia on October 21 and had returned to the Philippines, DFA added.
“The DFA is reaching out to her to ensure her well-being and cooperation in the investigation,” the agency said. “The DFA assures the public that a thorough investigation will be conducted.”
According to the Embassy of the Philippines Brasilia website, Ambassador Marichu Mauro was assigned to the Economic Diplomacy Unit until 1996, when she was appointed Acting Director at the Office of the Middle East and African Affairs.
In 1997, Ambassador Mauro was assigned as Third Secretary at the Embassy of the Philippines in Manama, Bahrain, and then as Second Secretary and Consul to the Embassy of the Philippines in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2001 until 2003.