It is a sad ending for Undersecretary Cathy Cabral. She was supposed to finish her post, retire, and then fade into the sunset just like the rest of them. Certainly, her reported suicide was not part of the plan.

She had a distinguished career after all. She was not only the first female rank-and-file employee to reach the undersecretary level, but also the first female national president of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) from 2017 to 2018. She was active in community-based projects, served as a lieutenant colonel in the Philippine Army Reserve Force, and held multiple advanced degrees from various institutions.

Clearly, there was no reason to end her life. But the burden of having to escape possible conviction and keeping quiet under duress could have taken a toll on her. She was such a vital figure that, despite an autopsy report indicating no foul play, pundits and conspiracy theorists alike suspect she may have been murdered.

This is not far-fetched. She may have been the only person who could tie up loose ends and help convict influential officials who may have masterminded the entire flood control operations. As undersecretary for planning and public-private partnerships, she had the authority at the DPWH level to remove, include, add, or deduct insertions in the National Expenditure Program. Because of this, she allegedly dealt with lawmakers and agency heads to ensure their “insertions” received funding. She reportedly facilitated how allocables for projects were assigned.

Considering her personal knowledge, she was in a position to identify the congressmen and senators who made insertions and therefore profited from them. At present, the Ombudsman has been unable to implicate certain individuals because witnesses who have testified so far did not directly give money to them or personally deal with them regarding their insertions. 

In the case of former Speaker Martin Romualdez, for instance, both Zaldy Co and Orly Guteza gave statements. However, the video of the former remains inadmissible for lack of authentication, while the affidavit of the latter may be of little value because he has disappeared.

This is not to say that the investigation can no longer stand on its own. It can still proceed, albeit it would have been far more convenient if Cabral were still in the picture. Now that she is dead, even vital information stored in her phone may be useless, since only she could authenticate it for admissibility.

This is why, even after everything is said and done, people will continue to insist on the existence of foul play — which is itself unfair, considering that the investigation has already indicated otherwise.