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December 22, 2025 | 6:50pm
MANILA, Philippines — Twelve lawmakers filed a House resolution on Monday, December 22, seeking to conduct a congressional investigation into the sudden death of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral.
Cabral, who died after falling from a highway on December 19, was a central figure in the alleged multi-billion-peso kickback scheme involving infrastructure budget insertions.
Even more questions have emerged since she died, knowing how she would have been the key to understanding the pork-like “allocables” and insertions.
Was she possibly threatened? Did authorities fail to ensure her protection as a potential witness? Were they slow to act in preserving any evidence she may have had?
Minority lawmakers, including Rep. Edgar Erice, Rep. Leila de Lima, Rep. Chel Diokno, and Rep. Eli San Fernando, hope the inquiry will shed light on what Cabral knew and uncover lapses in oversight.
“We have to get to the bottom of this, we have to know not only what happened to her and what her actual genuine cause of death is, but also to find out what she knew and what we can still unearth based on the investigation that we will conduct,” Diokno said in a press conference.
Under House Resolution 606, should the plenary adopt it, the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability will conduct a joint probe with the Committee on Public Works and Highways to examine the circumstances surrounding Cabral’s death.
Bills on death probes, autopsies?
Beyond uncovering the truth behind her death, the probe aims to determine what measures are needed to prevent law enforcement lapses in handling cases involving individuals like Cabral, who play a key role in corruption investigations.
“Issues have been raised regarding the apparent failure or insufficiency of action by government investigative, auditing, and oversight bodies to timely obtain material information from her, preserve relevant evidence, and/or provide appropriate protection despite her purported knowledge of possible irregularities,” the resolution read.
Diokno, in particular, is looking to file bills related to death investigations and autopsy laws to address similar cases, lamenting further how no cyber warrants were issued to preserve the electronic devices of implicated DPWH officials like Cabral as early as they could have been.
“Yet it’s only the other day, based on the news, na merong nag-apply for cyber warrants,” he said, referring to how the Ombudsman mentioned the cyber warrant after Cabral’s death.
The Ombudsman also said that agencies were ready to provide her protection, but at the time, she was preparing to “strategize” or equip herself for potential charges.
Where was the attention on Cabral?
Knowledge of the budget scandal began when the Marcos admin launched a full-blown probe into flood control projects nationwide, only to discover the anomalies may have to do with lawmakers preparing the budget.
Yet, in the few months spent so far, much of the attention has been focused on the DPWH officials and contractors testifying, as well as the implicated lawmakers.
It’s as if any pressure on Cabral to come clean fizzled quickly, if she did have anything to do with the insertions.
She, however, was also observed by senators to have shown “signs of cooperation” in the investigations.
Should a House probe be held into Cabral’s death, the joint committee would be tasked to also look into her alleged involvement in the anomalous flood control projects and kickback scheme.
Other concerns include the roles of project proponents, contractors, consultants, and public officials in the planning, approval, funding and execution of infrastructure projects, as well as whether existing laws are sufficient to ensure transparency and accountability in their implementation.
Reps. Perci Cendaña, Dadah Ismula, Krisel Lagman, Kaka Bag-ao, Adrian Michael Amatong, Alfonso Umali Jr., Leandro Leviste and Jaime Fresnedi were also among the resolution’s co-authors.
