DPWH files from Cabral link lawmakers, gov't execs to budget insertions— Leviste

Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste on Sunday said the files on the proponents involved in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget insertions provided by former undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral link lawmakers as well as government officials and private individuals.

In a social media post, Leviste said Cabral gave him the files on September 4, which contain "DPWH insertions of the whole country".

“Since then, many have asked for the late USec Cabral’s files to be released to the public. I will await the DPWH’s position on this, and I will do so if [DPWH Secretary] Vince [Dizon] tells me to,” Leviste said, noting that he wanted to avoid compromising his work in Congress.

“The release of the files would have wide-ranging consequences. They list proponents of flood control and other DPWH projects from the whole government – not only Congressmen and Senators, but also people from the Executive, including Secretaries and Undersecretaries outside DPWH, as well as private individuals,” he added.

The congressman, however, said he showed the files to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) on November 18 and 19 and to the Ombudsman on November 26.

The lawmaker narrated that he has been requesting data on the DPWH budget for each congressional district since May, saying he went to Cabral’s office on June 11 and followed it up on August 11.

Cabral resigned from the DPWH on September 16, which was accepted by Secretary Vince Dizon.

READ: Who was ex-DPWH undersecretary Catalina Cabral?

On December 19 at 12:03 a.m., Cabral was declared dead after an alleged fall by the Bued River in Benguet.

She served as DPWH Undersecretary for Planning and Public-Private Partnership, where she was linked to anomalous flood control projects amounting to billions of pesos.  — Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News