MANILA, Philippines (AP) – The Philippine president fired his former ambassador to Brazil after she was seen on video physically abusing a member of his Filipino domestic team.
President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday night that he approved the recommendation to dismiss Marichu Mauro, revoke her retirement benefits and disqualify her from public life positions. The decision comes as Duterte pushes a campaign against official abuse and corruption in his last full year in power.
Mauro was called back from Brazil in October after the video, allegedly taken from security cameras at the ambassador’s residence in Brasilia and shown by a Brazilian news agency, showed a woman attacking someone who appeared to be a housekeeper.
The Manila Department of Foreign Affairs said at the time that the unidentified victim had returned to the Philippines and was trying to contact her in the middle of an investigation.
Mauro did not publicly comment on the allegations.
Duterte, whose six-year term ends next year, has been reading the names of government officials and officials implicated in bribery and corruption in his TV appearances to highlight his campaign against abuse and irregularities.
But Duterte, a former government prosecutor who has threatened to kill suspected drug offenders and is known for his expletives laden with profanity, has also faced criticism for abusive behavior. In his televised comments on Monday night, Duterte criticized Vice President Leni Robredo for criticizing the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak and the vaccination campaign.
“You seem to have an angel face, but a diabolical mind,” said Duterte, calling Robredo’s stance “idiot” in his incoherent speech.
Furious at what he said was Robredo’s reminder that health professionals should be treated well, Duterte said: “You can die, but I will never abandon frontliners and you don’t have to be really redundant about it.”
The presidents and vice-presidents are elected separately in the Philippines, resulting in candidates from rival parties like Duterte and Robredo who end up leading the country and often clash in politics.
Robredo has been one of the main critics of Duterte’s bloody anti-drug crackdown, which left thousands of suspects, mostly poor, dead and led to complaints of mass murder before the International Criminal Court.
Addressing erroneous government officials, Duterte threatened to slap and humiliate them. In a televised speech last week, he suggested that the hands of wandering anti-narcotics agents be crushed with a hammer to teach them a lesson.
“When I say to the secretary ‘leave us alone’, you will be hit. I humiliate people, especially those who steal money from the government, ”said Duterte on Monday.
Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno said that publicly humiliating government officials and officials who are being prosecuted for bribery and corruption for reading their names on TV in a shameful campaign violates their right to a presumption of innocence, due process and due process. a fair trial. Victims of Duterte’s scolding can sue him for defamation when he loses his immunity from lawsuits after his presidency, he said.
“It is really inappropriate and ironic that he is a lawyer and should know that,” said Diokno.