Philippines issues new guidelines for diplomats

MANILA: Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin announced that Filipino diplomats geting overseas assignments are no longer allowed to bring their domestic staff like household service workers (HSWS).

In his post on Twiter, Locsin said he wanted to prevent a repetition of the case of Marichu Mauro, the Philippine ambassador to Brazil, who was recently dismissed by President Duterte for “maltreating” her HSW which was caught by CCTV and went viral on social media.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) no longer allows domestic staff to go with officers assigned abroad. They must apply to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). I ceded full authority to it,” Locsin said.

“POEA sets $400 or $600 as minimum salary deposited in the domestic’s bank account plus other safeguards. It cannot happen again,” Locsin said.

In his weekly televised nationwide address on Monday, Duterte announced the dismissal of Mauro as recommended by foreign office investigators, which meant additional penalties like forfeiture of her retirement benefits and disqualification from holding another public office.

Mauro, who was appointed ambassador to Brazil in 2018, was recalled last October ater a video that appeared on Brazilian TV showed her berating and maltreating her household staff. While admiting and regreting that the incident brought shame upon the Philippines and all Filipinos, Mauro broke her silence and told media she would file a case in court contesting her dismissal which she lamented as “unfair” and “railroaded.”

According to Mauro, the “selected footage” was illegally and stealthily obtained, patched together and eventually released to Brazilian media, including TV and mainly to shame and embarrass her.

She added personnel of the Philippine embassy in Brazil atested in their sworn statements submited to the foreign office investigators that this serious breach of security through illegal wiretapping was commited by Brazilian “local hires,” one of whom was dismissed with consent from the DFA.

“The issue was used over and over,” Mauro said, “to make me an example of an abusive official. But I am not the cruel heartless person that certain government officials portrayed me to be.”

But more than that, she said she asked forgiveness from her maid who granted it, a gesture which, she pointed out, should have been considered by the investigators in her favour. “Now, I am let with very limited options especially since I was publicly judged,” she said.