The former Philippine ambassador to Brazil was fired from her diplomatic career for assaulting a domestic worker for months at the official residence in Brasilia. The announcement was made by the country’s president, Rodrigo Duterte, on Monday (1st).
Marichu Mauro was sent back to Manila, the archipelago’s capital, in October last year after images of the internal security circuit of the then ambassador’s residence were published by the Brazilian press.
The videos show the attacks on the employee, also a Filipino, over an eight-month period. In the different registers, the ambassador slaps her and pulls her ear and even hits her with an umbrella.
“There are rules to follow. If you disobey, you take a risk. If things don’t go well, I won’t forgive you,” Duterte said of the case.
Now that she has been dismissed from the Foreign Ministry, Mauro will lose her pension rights and will no longer be able to hold public office in the country. Wanted by the AFP news agency, she did not respond to requests for information.
Security camera footage, recorded between March and October 2020, was used to support a complaint filed with the Philippine government against the diplomat.
Mauro started working in Brazil in April 2018, when he presented his credentials to then-president Michel Temer. Besides Brazil, she was responsible for representing the interests of her country in Colombia, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.
Prior to serving in Brasilia, Marichu was Philippine Consul General in Milan, Italy. She also spent six years in Brussels, where she worked to represent her country to Belgium and the European Union. Early in his career he held positions in Bahrain and Israel.
Millions of Filipinos work abroad as domestic servants – money sent to their families is a significant part of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product).
However, cases of physical and psychological abuse are frequent and workers suffer in difficult and dangerous conditions.