By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

THE death of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral involves no foul play, according to Secretary Jonvic Remulla of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). This very quick assessment was tempered by the statement of Jose Melencio Nartatez, Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), who said, “It’s too early to tell.”

Senator Kiko Pangilinan expressed concern and advised authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and verification of Cabral’s remains, given the circumstances under which her death occurred, saying, “We do not wish to be insensitive if indeed death has been established, but considering that billions of pesos are involved, we call on Sec. Jonvic Remulla to check and validate if the remains of the former Usec. Cathy Cabral was properly identified by the authorities concerned. Faking death to escape criminal liability for corruption has happened before.”

Journalist Ellen Tordesillas of Vera Files enumerated her questions:

1. Was she supposed to meet somebody at that spot on Kennon Road? Why did she go back there after checking in at the Ion Hotel?
2. Did Cabral tell the driver to come back for her after two hours? If yes, that means she was expecting to meet someone who would need about two hours for them to talk. Who is that someone then?
3. Someone in another post raised this: Was someone tailing them all along during that trip?
4. Why is the husband so sure that Cabral committed suicide? His refusal to allow an autopsy of Cabral’s body is highly suspicious.

Political content creator and vlogger Chris Tan wants to know why Bilyonaryo, a Philippine news channel, posted very quickly and insinuated suicide early on, and wants to identify the reporter and the contact person in the police force. This is not surprising considering that some news agencies are run by public relations (PR) firms, whose reporters may have compromised journalistic integrity for practical gain.

Ordinary citizens expressed a flood of speculations and darker scenarios. They suspect that a political clique or faction may be responsible for masterminding Cabral’s death. This is not far-fetched considering her vital role in the ongoing investigations into the flood control mess. Cabral is the axle keeping the evidence together, involving senators, congressmen and other officials in the executive branch, having served three consecutive administrations. UP Professor Barry Gutierrez called her the “lynchpin” to the cases of corruption being filed.

Cabral testified in an inquiry held on 09 September 2025 at the House of Representatives that there was a P51B allocation for flood control to Paolo Duterte’s district from 2020-2022, during the pandemic, at a time that the Philippines had to borrow US$500 million (PhP29B) loan from the World Bank “to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on poor and vulnerable households, and to provide financial relief to small and medium enterprises.”

If she attended the invitation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) on 15 December 2025, would she have submitted damning evidence that would have incriminated most of the elected officials? I’m not sure she will. I’m not even sure she actually died, despite Jonvic Remulla’s assertion that there was no foul play in her death, and her husband’s refusal for an autopsy.