"The former ambassador feels she deserves only a slap on the wrist for committing a pattern of abusive behavior."
"The former ambassador feels she deserves only a slap on the wrist for committing a pattern of abusive behavior."
Immediately following President Duterte’s announcement of former ambassador Marichu Mauro’s dismissal from service, she decried the decision as unjust and illegal penalty for her maltreatment of her Filipina housemaid in Brazil.
The President approved the recommendation of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Teodoro Locsin for Mauro’s revocation of her appointment as Philippine ambassador to Brazil, dismissal and perpetual disbarment from holding public office.
Further, she loses her benefits from 26 years of public service and the privilege to take the civil service eligibility examination.
This should send a strong message not only to Philippine diplomats now assigned to foreign posts but to all public officials in the bureaucracy.
Mauro was recalled last October after a local television news program showed a series of security video footages showing her maltreating her 51-year old housemaid, hitting, pinching, throwing a broom and a towel at her.
When questioned, Mauro said she had suffered stress due to the pandemic.
Well, aren’t we all under extreme pressure to survive the pandemic crisis? She could not have come up with a more frivolous excuse.
She publicly apologized to the househelp who was immediately repatriated by the DFA when the Brazilian TV report went viral on social media.
And yet, Mauro has the temerity to call the President’s approval of her dismissal as “too harsh.”
Apparently, she feels entitled and deserving only a slap on the wrist for committing a pattern of abusive behavior.
She said the DFA panel has “mishandled and railroaded” the case, ignoring her accomplishments over 26 years of foreign service, including assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
She cited the fact that she had asked for the househelp’s “forgiveness” for her excesses which the kasambahay granted her.
The envoy said the kasambahay had been under her family’s employ for years in Manila.
The housemaid, who could have pressed criminal charges against the official, simply wished to move on.
Mauro said news reports have been biased, showing only portions of video clips intended to misrepresent her.
One can only imagine the ordeal her housemaid could still be suffering now if the abuses were not exposed.
When interviewed by reporters in Manila, the kasambahay said Mauro had a bad temper.
There is clearly no excuse or justification for such behavior, as she herself must admit.
“It is unbecoming of a public official, especially for a diplomat who represents our country in a foreign land. This incident has caused us sheer embarrassment,” said ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Eric Yap.
As an offshoot of Mauro’s case, Locsin said the DFA will no longer allow DFA officials assigned to foreign posts to bring along their own kasambahays.
DFA officials will now have to recruit their houshelp through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
Small wonder that militant labor groups had demanded Mauro’s firing for treating her kasambahay as a “slave,” having treated her inhumanely.
She may deserve a day in court to appeal her case.
Unfortunately for her, the raw security videos will not lie.