President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the dismissal from government service of Marichu Mauro, the Philippine Ambassador to Brazil who allegedly maltreated her household helper.
Mauro is facing charges after being caught on video hurting her helper.
In his nationally-televised address on Monday night, Duterte said Mauro’s eligibility will be cancelled and she will no longer receive retirement benefits.
She is also barred from holding any public office and taking the civil service examination.
Mauro had been the Philippine envoy to Brazil since March 2016 and had been in foreign service since February 1995.
In October last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs recalled Mauro after a Brazilian media outlet published CCTV footage showing her pulling her helper’s hair and ears and throwing objects at her.
The Filipina helper, who is now in the country, had been with Mauro and her family for years, the DFA said. The nonprofit Blas F. Ople Policy Center has offered her legal and livelihood assistance.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. has earlier vowed that the department’s response to the matter would be severe “to the fullest extent of the law.”