The suicide angle in the death of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral was dismantled by Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.

Cabral, through her lawyer, had sought a meeting with Lacson and two members of his legislative staff to discuss how she could proceed with a possible testimony before the Blue Ribbon Committee, making it unlikely stated in the initial police findings.  

Lacson, who chairs the Senate panel investigating alleged irregularities in flood control projects, described the death of Cabral as “unfortunate and tragic,” saying she could have played a key role in exposing alleged corruption in the agency’s infrastructure projects.

He said Cabral’s cooperation could have helped shed light on the anomalies not only in flood control projects but across the DPWH’s broader infrastructure portfolio.

Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said the authorities will have to tell the public whether what happened to Cabral was “an accident; was it suicide? Or was there foul play because she knew too much?”

In an earlier Senate hearing, then DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, who had spilled the beans on the “Floodgate” scandal, said Cabral knew more than him.

Regarding the notorious formula for so-called “allocables,” it was supposedly Cabral who developed it, which determined how much a district could receive for projects. 

“And more importantly, how much would that leave the central office?” Tinio indicated. 

Tinio said the amounts went to major contractors, including the Diccaya couple and SunWest Corp. of former House appropriations chairperson Zaldy Co. 

“So indeed, it appears that she knew a lot. She was a key enabler in the DPWH as far as this whole plunder scheme is concerned,” he added.

Who benefits?

“You have to ask who would benefit, whether intentionally or not, from the death, supposedly, the alleged death of Cabral. I say alleged because let’s wait for an official report on the matter,” Tinio said.

Tinio pointed out  “it was known that Cabral dealt with many of the legislators, whether in the House or in the Senate and other government officials, including in the executive branch.”  

And not just the DPWH secretary, but other Cabinet officials as well. 

“So she knew, certainly she knew a lot. She could name a lot of names. With her death, investigators would have to find other ways to get at all of that information from her personal records,” Tinio said.

“It is correct for the ICI and others to urge or ask the authorities to move swiftly to preserve the evidence. I mean, the personal belongings, the records of her documents,” he added.

Main information source

“It was unfortunate and tragic that former Undersecretary Cabral would end her life at a time when she could have significantly contributed to blowing wide open the extent of corruption not only in flood control projects but all the other anomalies in the infrastructure program of the DPWH,” Lacson said.

He hoped Cabral had left behind notes or files that could still be useful to investigators.

The meeting with Lacson took place shortly after her DPWH colleague Bernardo mentioned Cabral in his sworn testimony.

“At the time, I had the impression that she was showing some signs of cooperating with our investigation, but with a lot of pressure which we could not explain,” Lacson said.

He added that his confidence in Cabral’s potential cooperation was reinforced by her lawyer’s assurance, noting her trust in the committee’s process.

“What bolstered my confidence was her lawyer’s statement that she could completely put her trust in me being the chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, with the knowledge that I had never dipped my fingers in any of the lists of projects — ‘pork’, ‘allocables’ or whatever names were invented that she used to prepare for legislators and other personalities, she being the Usec for Planning,” he said.

Clock ticking

“Time is of the essence now” to retrieve Cabral’s gadgets, said the Office of the Ombudsman.

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said it is urgent to take custody and preserve Cabral’s gadgets to trace the individuals she may have spoken with before her death and to determine their connection to her and the flood control scandal.

“The reason for this is quite obvious because we want to know who the people were she talked with before this happened, if there’s anything in relation to our investigation with regard to the flood control investigations,” Clavano said.

Clavano said Cabral was important to the investigation, and it is critical to preserve any information she may have held, especially from her time in DPWH.

Validate death

Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) Executive Director Keith Brian Hosaka called on law enforcement agencies to conduct an extensive probe.

Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan called on the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to validate the death of Cabral.

In a Facebook post, Pangilinan said that “faking a death to escape criminal liability for corruption has happened before.”

“We do not wish to be insensitive if indeed death has been established, but considering that billions of pesos are involved, we call on Sec Jonvic Remulla to check and validate if the remains of the former usec Cathy Cabral was properly identified by the authorities concerned,” Pangilinan said.