Cabral poised to do ‘tell-all’ before her death, says Lacson

Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Catalina Cabral appeared to be preparing to do a “tell-all” on the flood control controversy before her death, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson.

In a radio interview Saturday, Lacson said Cabral had reached out to him and expressed willingness to reveal information after former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo implicated her during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing.

Before her death on December 18, Cabral had reportedly indicated she was set to testify on Special Allotment Release Orders (SARO), including documents allegedly detailing P50 billion worth of unprogrammed fund insertions in the national budget.

Lacson said the alleged “Cabral files” revealed at least five Cabinet members with allocable and non-allocable funds under the 2025 budget, including an official identified only as “ES,” who reportedly had P8.3 billion in insertions.

According to the computer files, former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan allegedly had at least P30.5 billion in fund allocations under his name.

Lacson added that several Cabinet secretaries were each listed with P2 billion in allocations, alongside billions more allegedly earmarked for House leadership and several party-list representatives.

It remains unclear whether the same officials also received allocable and non-allocable funds from other government departments, he said.

“The information I got is based on documents given to me by Cabral’s lawyer and from documents I obtained from the DPWH. These documents can be authenticated,” Lacson said.

“Why should Cabinet secretaries get allocables? I thought allocables were for lawmakers to request projects for their districts, which, to me, is still unacceptable because the National Expenditure Program is the exclusive domain of the executive department,” he added.

Lacson said authentication of the alleged Cabral files could be done by Department of Budget and Management Officer-in-Charge Rolando Toledo or by the DPWH.

Once authenticated, some Cabinet secretaries named in the documents may be summoned to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s investigation into alleged anomalies in flood control projects, Lacson said.

The alleged Cabral files consist of documents summarizing DPWH allocations per district, province, and region from 2023 to 2026.

The files were reportedly given by Cabral to Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste and were released by the lawmaker following her death.—MCG, GMA Integrated News