MANILA — The Philippines ordered its ambassador to Brazil to return home Monday (Oct 26) after video footage showed her "mistreating" a Filipino domestic helper.

Ms Marichu Mauro, who was posted to Brazil in 2018 and also had jurisdiction over Colombia, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela, was under investigation, the foreign ministry said.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs has instructed the Philippine Ambassador to Brazil to return home immediately following release of video footages showing her berating and mistreating her household staff," the statement said.

The announcement came after Brazil's GloboNews broadcast security camera footage which they said showed Ms Mauro repeatedly assaulting a female member of her household staff.

GloboNews said the woman worked at the ambassador's official residence in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia.

The images — dated from March to October — were used as evidence in a complaint lodged against Ms Mauro in late August, it said.

The foreign ministry said the staff member left Brazil last week and was back in the Philippines where authorities would seek her cooperation in the case.

Millions of Filipinos work abroad and the money they send home spurs the local economy where many still live in deep poverty despite the country's robust growth in recent years.

Abuse of overseas workers has been reported in the past, but almost all of the cases involved foreign employers. AFP