Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Monday that a formal charge has been served against former Philippine Ambassador to Brazil Marichu Mauro, who was caught on security footage abusing a Filipino helper.
In a tweet, Lacson said he had sent a memorandum to President Rodrigo Duterte about the charges on Mauro.
“Charge served on her at 8:25 a.m. today. I sent a Memo to the President on it. The Hearing Panel’s report and charge will be passed upon and approved/disapproved by the Board of Foreign Service Administration; and finally by the Secretary. It shouldn’t take too long,” Locsin said.
A CCTV footage aired by Brazilian news outfit Globonews showed Mauro hitting a household helper on numerous occasions. The videos were taken from March 12 to Sept. 15 this year.
Mauro was recalled on Oct. 6 and arrived in the Philippines on Nov. 2.
Earlier, Locsin vowed that Mauro’s case would be dealt with “to the fullest extent of law.”
“Under my leadership, the DFA will not tolerate in any way whatsoever actions by any of its ranking officers or staff that go against our primary mandate, which is the promotion and protection of the welfare of all overseas Filipinos,” Locsin said on Twitter.
The Philippine Foreign Service Act of 1991 states that the president has the power to decide on administrative cases filed against foreign affairs officials.
The Philippines has 61 envoys deployed to posts overseas. John Ezekiel J. Hirro