Former Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Catalina Cabral 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.

According to Benguet police, personnel from the Baguio City Police Office found Cabral beside the Bued River. The incident was said to be an “alleged fall.”

Police said that around 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, the victim and her driver were traveling on Kennon Road towards La Union when the victim requested the driver to stop at Maramal, Camp 5, Camp 4, and asked to be left there.

He returned to the location around 5 p.m. but was unable to find her.

The driver sought police assistance around 7 p.m. after he was still unable to find the undersecretary.

Baguio police went to the scene and found the victim at the side of the Bued River, 20 to 30 meters below the highway. She was said to be "unconscious and unresponsive."

Cabral resigned in September 2025 amid the congressional investigations into anomalous flood control projects and alleged kickbacks by lawmakers and government officials.

Independent Commission for Infrastructure spokesperson Brian Hosaka said on December 11 that the ICI would invite Cabral as a resource person in its investigation into ghost and substandard flood control projects.

Former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, in an affidavit he read before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, implicated several lawmakers and former DPWH officials, including Cabral, in the collection of kickbacks from the anomalous projects.

(Original article by GMA News Online)