A top ambassador has been recalled after allegedly attacking her maid in Brazil.

Marichu Mauro, the Philippine ambassador to Brazil, was allegedly seen on video abusing the 51-year-old woman at her sprawling diplomatic residence in Asa Norte.

In a catalogue of alleged abuse between March and October this year, the ambassador is said to have repeatedly struck the traumatised cleaner.

On one occasion, she appears to drag the Filipino maid by her ear while another time she beats her with an umbrella.

The maid returned to the Philippines and authorities were made away of the Mauro behaviours.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday that Mauro had been recalled while they investigate.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said: ''The Philippine ambassador to Brazil has been recalled effective immediately to explain the maltreatment of her service staff."

The Brazil Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had not yet been notified by the Labor Prosecutor's Office of the complaint brought to that body against the Ambassador of the Philippines.

They said that ''in coordination with the other competent Brazilian authorities, will provide full support for the progress of the investigation, in accordance with the Convention of Vienna."

Mauro, a devout Christian, started working in Brazil in 2018 and has jurisdiction over Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.

She joined the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs in 1995 and worked at the Economic Diplomacy Unit until 1996 before being appointed as acting director at the Office of the Middle East and African Affairs.