Cathy Cabral and the Files She Left Behind

While Filipinos were celebrating the festive season, the sudden death of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Catalina “Cathy” Cabral cast a shadow over the holidays. Her passing not only left her family in mourning but also removed a central figure linked to the unfolding flood control and budget controversies. This report looks back at who Cabral was, the paper trail she left behind, and the issues surrounding her final months.

General Information:

• Full name: Maria Catalina Estamo Cabral¹

• May 23, 1962 – December 19, 2025

• Profession: Civil engineer; government official

• Government agency: Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)

• Highest position held: Undersecretary for Planning and Public-Private Partnership (2014-2025)

• Education

  • Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, University of the East (1984)

  • Master of Business Administration, Manuel L. Quezon University (1993)

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management, Manuel L. Quezon University (1998)

  • Doctor in Public Administration, Manuel L. Quezon University (2001)

  • Master's in Economics, Lyceum of the Philippines University (2007)

  • Master’s in Strategic Business Economics, University of Asia and the Pacific (2015)

• She progressed through senior roles at DPWH, culminating as Undersecretary for Planning and Public‑Private Partnership, overseeing national infrastructure planning and PPP projects.

• Served as Professional Chair in Engineering Science and Technology at Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in 2021.

• Held leadership positions in professional engineering organizations: 

• National President, Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE)

• National President, Road Engineering Association of the Philippines

• Represented DPWH as an Alternate Member of the Board of Directors, National Irrigation Administration (NIA)

Timeline:

• November 2014: Appointed as DPWH Undersecretary for Planning and Public-Private Partnership under then-DPWH Undersecretary Rogelio Singson. 

• September 1, 2025: Appeared before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee for the first time regarding flood control and infrastructure budget issues. Lawmakers, including Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, questioned her about recurring double appropriations in DPWH projects and why certain budget entries had not been corrected over the years.

• September 3, 2025: Cabral appeared again before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to address concerns about flood control project quality and contractor warranties. Senators, including Risa Hontiveros, question whether substandard works might require taxpayers to pay twice, and Cabral responds that contractors are responsible for correcting defects at no cost to the government.

• September 7, 2025: Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson publicly named an “Undersecretary Cabral” as the DPWH official who allegedly contacted the office of then Senate Minority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III after the May 2025 elections to invite budget insertions for 2026. Sotto confirmed receiving the call but said he declined. When asked whether it was Cathy Cabral, Lacson replied, "That was relayed to me.”

• September 8, 2025: During a House committee inquiry on infrastructure funding, Cabral confirmed that P51 billion in infrastructure funds were allocated to Davao City's 1st District under Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte during the last three years of the previous administration. Her confirmation cited official DPWH records showing these allocations, which became a point of discussion in broader inquiries into flood control spending and project prioritization.

• September 10, 2025: During continued Senate hearings, lawmakers, including Senators Panfilo Lacson and Alan Peter Cayetano, criticize Cabral’s earlier statements, alleging contradictions between her hearing answers and internal messages. When asked about budget insertions, Cabral answers, “Hindi ko po alam, Your Honor.” Lacson said she was “lying through her teeth” regarding knowledge of budget insertion practices.

• September 18, 2025: DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon announces he has accepted Cathy Cabral’s courtesy resignation. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee moves to subpoena her to compel testimony on ongoing investigations into flood control and budget irregularities.

• September 24, 2025: Cabral appears as a resource person before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to provide information on alleged flood control project anomalies. This is cited as her last confirmed interaction with the commission. She was invited to appear again in a subsequent hearing scheduled for December 15.

• December 3, 2025: She then appeared before the Office of the Ombudsman to provide information on flood control and infrastructure project anomalies. Officials report that she cooperated fully with the probe, marking this as her last documented official engagement with the authorities before her disappearance and death.

Key details known so far about Cabral’s death

• On the evening of December 18, Cabral was found “unconscious and unresponsive” beside Bued River and 20 to 30 meters below Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet, following an alleged fall, according to police. 

• Tuba Councilor Arnulfo Milo said the vehicle carrying former Public Works Undersecretary Cabral was initially spotted parked at a roadside stall near a gas station around 8 a.m. on December 18, about 100 meters from the ravine where her body was later discovered unconscious. 

• Milo added police on patrol initially flagged Cabral and her driver for obstructing traffic and asked them to relocate the vehicle. When officers returned about an hour later, they restated the directive, prompting the driver to move the car.

• Around 1 P.M., they were seen in CCTV footage checking in at a hotel in Benguet. By 1:10 P.M., another footage shows Cabral’s driver assisting her to her hotel room, while her driver was seen entering his room by 1:20 P.M. 

• At 2:47 P.M., Cabral was seen knocking on her driver’s door, and they both left the hotel before 3 P.M. to return to the same location along Kennon Road where they made a stopover early in the morning. According to her driver, Ricardo Hernandez, Cabral asked him to leave her near a cliff so she could unwind. 

• Following this decision by Cabral, a question lingers: why did she choose to unwind at that location when, six years ago, she said in an interview that she had a fear of heights?

• The driver claimed he returned to the place by 5 P.M., where he had left Cabral, but was unable to find her. He then decided to return to their hotel room to check if Cabral had returned to her room on her own. She was later found unconscious and unresponsive by 8 P.M. Cabral was declared dead at 12:03 A.M. on December 19 by a municipal doctor. 

• In the early morning of December 19, ICI called for a thorough investigation into the incident to ensure that there was no foul play in her death, alleging that “it may also be connected to the anomalous infrastructure projects, should authorities determine one.”

• Senator Kiko Pangilinan then urged the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to verify the death of a former DPWH official amid concerns it may have been faked, citing a previous case of a textbook scammer who faked death to evade accountability.

• To validate Cabral’s death, both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the DILG have ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), respectively, to conduct an autopsy — a procedure the victim’s family has resisted due to a strong belief that her death was an accident. 

• Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-List Rep. Leila De Lima questioned the family’s resistance,  saying that “autopsy and DNA tests are indispensable” in crucial investigations such as suspicious deaths. She furthered that believing it was an accident only fuels speculation that the body may not be Cabral’s.

• Later on December 20, Cabral’s husband agreed to an autopsy following a consultation and in the presence of three lawyers. 

• According to the autopsy results, there was no evidence of foul play in Cabral’s death, officials said, noting the absence of signs of a physical struggle in her car, no skin cells under her fingernails, and no bullet wounds.

• DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla also confirmed on the same day that the body found belonged to Cabral, based on DNA and fingerprint analysis.

• After further investigation, Remulla said, "All signs point to suicide." In another test, Cabral also tested positive for the antidepressant drug citalopram, authorities confirmed. 

• Meanwhile, psychiatrist-psychologist Dr. Randy Dellosa said Cabral may have been experiencing insomnia—possibly linked to depression or anxiety, based on the medications recovered from her hotel room in Baguio City. Authorities recovered several medications, including melatonin, lemborexant (Dayvigo), escitalopram, and quetiapine,  all psychiatric or neuropsychiatric medicines used to manage sleep problems, mood disorders, or anxiety. 

• According to a PNP medico-legal report dated December 20, Cabral’s death was attributed to “blunt traumatic injuries to the head, trunk, and left upper and lower extremities resulting from a fall from height.”

• However, forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun said a toxicology test should be performed in addition to an autopsy to rule out other possible causes of death. She furthered that investigators must determine whether Cabral was under the influence of any substance and weigh the evidence to establish whether her death was accidental or suicide, noting that ruling out third-party involvement would exclude homicide. 

What now after her death?

• With Cabral’s untimely death, the public is asking whether it will affect the ongoing investigation into the flood control projects and infrastructure scandal, especially since she was believed to be holding important documents needed for the probe.

• Currently, the Ombudsman has custody of the computer and files from Cabral’s office accumulated over the past 10 years, after the DPWH turned them over in compliance with the Ombudsman’s subpoena duces tecum.

• Prosecutor General Anthony Fadullon explained that Cabral’s criminal liability was extinguished by her death, but added that civil forfeiture proceedings against her assets may continue.

“Cabral Files” Saga

• In early September 2025, Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste said he received a set of documents from Cathy Cabral that contained detailed DPWH budget allocation records.

• The documents included lists of DPWH project allocations under the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP), named project proponents including legislators, executive officials, and private individuals, a breakdown of budget insertions per lawmaker with figures reportedly beginning at P150 million per representative, regional and district-level allocations tied to flood control and other infrastructure projects, and entries timestamped September 2025.

• On November 18 and 19, 2025, Leviste showed the “Cabral files” to ICI investigators and the Office of the Ombudsman as part of ongoing flood control and infrastructure budget discussions. 

• Between December 21 and 25, portions of the documents and summarized allocations were publicly released by Leviste, showing detailed figures and named proponents linked to the DPWH budget for 2023 to 2026.

• Leviste claims that the DPWH budget swelled to P3.5 trillion in 2025, and he claimed that multiple House members and all senators, including his mother, Senator Loren Legarda, were listed.

• From December 23 to 28, 2025, DPWH turned over Cabral’s office computers and related files to the Ombudsman for forensic examination.

• DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon publicly stated he had not authenticated or approved the specific files Leviste released and said he had not seen the documents as presented by Leviste.

• Sen. Lacson said the Cabral files allegedly show that five Cabinet members were linked to budget allocations normally reserved for lawmakers, running into tens of billions of pesos. Lacson did not publicly name the Cabinet officials.

• Presidential Communication Office (PCO) Usec. Claire Castro responded by saying the documents were unverified and might be treated as hearsay unless formally authenticated by the DPWH.

• Leviste maintained that the documents originated from Cabral’s office and said they could be verified against official DPWH records and communications from devices tied to the former undersecretary and her staff.

• He also clarified that some files circulating in the media did not come directly from him, suggesting multiple independent copies exist within DPWH sources.

• Leviste urged the public to consult the DPWH, particularly Sec. Dizon and his team, to confirm the figures, noted that while Cabral is deceased, current officials could authenticate the data.

As President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had earlier promised arrests before Christmas over the flood control mess, only a handful of names have so far reached the level of formal charges, including contractor Sarah Discaya and several DPWH officials. Investigations remain ongoing, but accountability has yet to move decisively beyond contractors and mid-level officials. 

Despite ongoing investigations, no sitting senators or members of the House have been formally charged, with the focus so far confined to contractors and mid-level DPWH staff. With Cathy Cabral gone, lingering doubts persist over whether the involvement of higher-ranking figures long whispered about but never squarely confronted will ever be fully exposed, or quietly fade along with one of the saga’s central figures.

Article:  Kier James Aquino Hernandez and John David Parol

Graphics: Ramier Vincent Pedianco