Cabral’s autopsy results out ‘within the day’ but no DNA test conducted —PNP

Autopsy results of resigned Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral will be released “within the day,” Philippine National Police Public Information Office chief Police Brigadier General Randulf Tuaño said on Saturday.

Tuaño, however, said that a DNA test was not conducted during the autopsy done earlier in the day. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) had ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the Cordillera Administrative Region to immediately conduct an autopsy on Cabral, citing “suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.” 

The autopsy results of resigned DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral will be released “within the day,” according to PNP public information office chief PBGen. Randulf Tuaño.

Tuaño says Cabral was not subjected to a DNA test. @gmanews

— Beatrice (@beatricepinlac) December 20, 2025

The NBI, meanwhile, is asking motorists who passed through Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet last Dec. 18 from 9am to 7pm to share dashcam footage along the area to help in the investigation. They said that any information provided will be treated with strict confidentiality and used solely for lawful investigative purposes.

The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government have ordered the National Bureau of Investigation and the PNP to conduct an autopsy to dispel doubts on the identity of the body believed to be Cabral’s. 

READ: Cabral's final hours, according to police

Cabral's family previously opposed the authorities' order to have her remains autopsied.

Her husband, Cesar, said it is their family’s sole wish to bring Cabral’s remains back to Metro Manila so they can grieve properly. 

"Ako na nagsasabi, asawa ko 'yan. Nanay nila 'yan. Ano pa gusto nilang i-prove? Maghahanap sila ng ibang tao?" said Cesar.

(I'm saying that the body is my wife's. The children are saying that it's their mother's. What else do they want to prove? Will they look for another person?)

They, however, later allowed to subject the former DPWH official to the autopsy. 

Meanwhile, the chief of Tuba, Benguet municipal police has been relieved from his post due to lapses in the investigation of Cabral's death.

Tuaño said the regional police office found the Tuba police remiss in securing the pieces of evidence in probing Cabral’s death.

Meanwhile, Benguet Police chief Police Colonel Lambert Suerte was retained in his post after “he was able to negotiate with the deceased family for the autopsy, Tuaño said.

Cabral, tagged as a key personality in the massive corruption scandal involving flood control projects, died on Friday after allegedly falling into Bued River in Tuba, Benguet — some 20 to 30 meters from the highway, according to the police. —VAL, GMA Integrated News