Marichu Mauro formally charged today – Locsin

Former Philippine Ambassador to Brazil Marichu Mauro has been formally charged for allegedly maltreating her Filipina household helper, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin, said Monday.

Last week, returned to Manila to face the investigation launched against her.

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“She has gone through all health protocols. She’s back in the country,” Locsin said in an interview on CNN, Philippines.

The DFA chief also disowned a report that a group of diplomats is supporting Mauro.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs nor am I is aware of the existence of a so-called Department of Foreign Affairs career officers corps and the retired ambassadors association. The reported statement of such organizations on the case of the former ambassador to Brazil does not in any way reflect the position of the department nor the sentiment of its career corps,” Locsin said.

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He added that the DFA “stands by its resolve to respond to the matter per and to the fullest extent of the law.”

Earlier, a DFA Career Officer Corps statement and the Retired Ambassadors Association was released expressing their full support for Mauro, saying the maltreatment incident does not define the envoy’s character.

Marichu Mauro formally charged today – Locsin

“We, the DFA’s Career Officer Corps and the Retired Ambassadors Association, hereby express full support to Ambassador Marichu Mauro, who is being pilloried in the social and printed media over the unfortunate incident in Brasilia. That single incident should not define the character of Ambassador Mauro,” the groups said in a statement.

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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.

Meanwhile, the household service staff left Brasilia on October 21 and had returned to the Philippines, DFA said.