Remains of ex-DPWH USec. Cabral brought to Manila

The remains of former Department of Public Works and Highways undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral arrived in Metro Manila before dawn on Sunday.

Her body arrived at 3:21 a.m. after leaving Benguet at 11:30 p.m. Saturday, according to GMA Integrated News reporter James Agustin.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Saturday confirmed that the remains of a woman found in Tuba, Benguet were that of Cabral.

“Yes, DNA, fingerprints results are consistent na siya ‘yun (it was her),” Remulla said in a 24 Oras Weekend report by Bea Pinlac on Saturday.

Meanwhile, in a separate Dobol B TV interview on Saturday, Remulla said the autopsy showed there was no foul play involved.

“‘Yung autopsy po ay number one, no signs of foul play. Wala pong ligature marks, wala pong sinakal, wala pong gunshot wound, wala rin pong knife wounds. So ang kaniyang cause of death as determined by autopsy is blunt force trauma from the fall,” Remulla said.

(The autopsy shows that number one, there are no signs of foul play. There are no ligature marks, no strangulation, and no gunshot or knife wounds either. So her cause of death as determined by the autopsy is blunt force trauma from a fall.)

Cabral, a seasoned civil engineer and former DPWH undersecretary for planning and public-private partnerships, was found on Dec. 18 “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 in Tuba, Benguet. She was pronounced dead early Dec. 19.

Police said her body was discovered beside the Bued River, about 20 to 30 meters below the highway, hours after she instructed her driver to leave her at a roadside location.

Cabral’s death has drawn intense public attention, given her role in ongoing inquiries into alleged anomalies in flood control infrastructure projects.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) was supposed to refer to the Ombudsman a plunder case that involved Cabral in relation to the alleged anomalous flood control projects in Bulacan before her death.

Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon said the case, which was set for referral for evaluation to the Office of the Ombudsman, involves some DPWH officials in the province, as well as proponents who may have benefited from the projects. —KG, GMA Integrated News