Recalled envoy to Brazil back in the Philippines — Locsin
MANILA, Philippines — The country's top diplomat on Tuesday said that an envoy under probe for maltreating her household staff has returned to the country.
Ambassador to Brazil Marichu Mauro arrived back in the Philippines on Monday night, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. told CNN Philippines' "The Source." He added that he has not yet spoken to Mauro since her arrival.
Locsin last Friday revealed that the investigation into the allegations of maltreatment against Mauro had officially begun following a directive he received from President Rodrigo Duterte which allowed him to proceed.
Video footage first obtained by a Brazilian network shows Mauro physically abusing a Filipina domestic worker under her employ. Sen. Ping Lacson, who chairs the Commission on Appointments Committee on Foreign Affairs, last Wednesday told reporters that it was his office that submitted a copy of the footage to the DFA.
Locsin also said that he sent financial aid worth P200,000 to the victim, identified by Brazil's GloboNews as a 51-year-old Filipino who worked in the ambassador's official residence behind the embassy's main building. Before this, the Department of Foreign Affairs revealed that it had reached out to Mauro's household staff — who arrived back in the country on October 21 — "to ensure her wellbeing and cooperation in the investigation."
While the DFA Career Officer Corps and the Retired Ambassadors Association on Monday expressed "full support" for Mauro, a number of senators have voiced their outrage at her treatment of an overseas Filipino worker.
Based on the CCTV footage from by the Brazilian media, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Mauro could have violated the following laws: the Code of Conduct for Ethical Standards for Public Officials (RA 6713), Article 266 of the Revised Penal Code on slight physical injuries and maltreatment and the Kasambahay Act (RA 10361). — with reports from The STAR
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