Cabral talked with 5 gov't prosecutors prior to sudden death —Clavano

Former Department of Public Works and Highways undersecretary Catalina Cabral already had a talk with five Ombudsman prosecutors before her demise, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said Friday.

Clavano made the disclosure as he assured the public that the evidence they gathered from Cabral, and even those still with the former DPWH official, can still be secured  by government prosecutors.

“To preserve the integrity of our investigation, including our leads, I cannot give names or specifics pero ‘yung kausap po niya (Cabral) doon ay mga investigators from the different fact-finding bodies that are assigned to the different cases,” Clavano said in a press conference.

“Marami po yan. I believe there were at least five prosecutors that she was talking to, asking [her]  about different cases where she was involved,” he added.

Benguet police on Friday confirmed the death of Cabral after an alleged fall. She was found “unconscious and unresponsive” 20 to 30 meters below a highway hours after she told her driver to leave her at a portion of Kennon Road.

Pandora's box?

Clavano said Cabral’s long stint as a government official who rose from the ranks gave her a mastery of various government processes in place, making her involvement in the flood control mess indispensable.

“Sa kanya kasi 'yung sistema eh dahil napakataas siyang opisyal ng DPWH. A lot of the cases [we are dealing with] ngayon, meron talaga siyang kinalaman dahil siya ang nag-insert, siya ang naglagay sa NEP. 'Yun po 'yung mga allegations na laban sa kanya,” Clavano said, referring to the  National Expenditure Program.

(She knows the system because she is a high-ranking DPWH official. She is really involved in the flood control cases because she is the one making insertions in the NEP. Those are the allegations against her.)

Senator Panfilo Lacson earlier alleged that Cabral made a phone call to Senate President Tito Sotto asking the Senate leader to recommend insertions in the proposed budget or the NEP while the DPWH was still crafting its proposed budget.

Clavano said Cabral’s action of reaching out to Sotto ahead of the budget submission to Congress is already proof that she is linked to the flood control mess.

“That (call to Sotto) is already indicative of the system that she was a part of,” he said.

Asked if Ombudsman prosecutors found criminal liability on the part of Cabral during their probe, Clavano replied, “Definitely. Meron talaga siya. So it was just a matter of time before we were able to file those cases.”

“Kaya kinakausap na din siya so that we could see what information she also had,” he added.

In the same press conference, Clavano brushed aside allegations that Cabral’s sudden death is a result of a snail-paced investigation and prosecution of those who stole public funds off flood control projects.

“I beg to differ from the assumption that the investigation is slow. Now, if you're going to ask me whether this is the fastest that we can go, not yet. We are still doing our best to make things move even faster. But a lot has happened already from the start of this investigation. I'd like to note that we've only been here for two months and we have already filed two cases,” he said.

These cases include: 

· the malversation and graft charges filed vs. former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co and 16 others with the Sandiganabayan over the P289 million substandard road dike project in Oriental Mindoro and

· the malversation and graft charges filed against contractor Sarah Discaya, among others, with the Digos City, Davao del Sur Regional Trial Court over the P96.5 million ghost flood control project in Davao Occidental

“We first picked the low hanging fruits. We’d rather do that than wait for the big cases and nothing gets filed right away. We attacked the low-hanging fruits, but that does not mean that we are not investigating other allegations,” Clavano said.

He then said that the case buildup against those who operate in the shadows does not happen in a blink of an eye.

“There is just much more difficulty when it comes to the proponents because the nature of the evidence changes. Aside from documents, we are looking for CCTV, screenshot of messages, call logs, because the proponents hide their tracks. So I actually would like to return the question to everybody who is saying that. If you were in this position, would you have done anything different? Because this investigation is moving as fast as we can. And we are confident that when we do file cases, they will be strong cases,” Clavano added. —AOL, GMA Integrated News