Who was Ex-DPWH Undersecretary Cabral and Why Does Her Death Matter?

And so, the plot thickens as we get a possible assassination scenario on our hands following the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of former Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Cathy Cabral.

Who was this former high-level DPWH bureaucrat and how big of a fish was she in the grand scheme of things? How are we are still somehow dealing with the aftermath of one of the multibillion-peso scams with the kickback scheme that siphoned public infrastructure funds meant to develop the country's flood mitigation systems?

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Former Public Works Undersecretary Cathy Cabral during a Senate hearing looking into anomalous flood control projects.

Maria Catalina "Cathy" Cabral had been tagged as the supposed brains behind the massive budget insertions in last year's national budget greenlit by her department, which paved the way for alleged kickbacks and commission fees for the benefit of several lawmakers.

She was a seasoned civil engineer before her resignation from the DPWH in September, where she oversaw public-private partnerships within the agency. Cabral was the first female president of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers and was president of the Road Engineering Association of the Philippines. She also held three master's degrees in business and strategic economics, along with other executive certifications from premier global institutions such as the Wharton School of Business, the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Mohamed Bin Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.

During the congressional probe into the "ghost projects linked to the flood control projects, Cabral denied any knowledge of the so-called budget insertions that allowed these fictitious ventures to be used as avenues for corruption.

Her sudden death in a cliff in Benguet, which was confirmed on Friday (December 19), made waves online and on mainstream news platforms, with many speculating foul play involved since she would likely have critical information on some very powerful people tagged in the anomalous flood control scheme.

Cabral was found unconscious and unresponsive around 20 to 30 meters under a highway after what appeared to be a fall from a cliff along Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet on Thursday night, based on local police reports.

In recent developments, the country's Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) called on law enforcement authorities to look into the mysterious cirucmstances and for them to secure and preserve all of Cabrals belongings, gadgets, and computers that could prove to be useful for digital forensics examinations.

The ICI earlier recommended the filing of administrative complaints against the former undersecretary as her name floated around congressional hearings looking into the scheme.

She was also said to have had a list of all of the people involved in the anomalous budgetary insertions on various dubious infrastructure projects, according to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano earlier noted that Cabral visited the Office of the Ombudsman to discuss the potential charges she would be facing more than two weeks before her death.

Only her driver was reported to be with her during the time of Cabral's death, and he is already in police custody.

"Until after the autopsy and after all the witnesses, everyone is considered a suspect na kasama niya (that she was with) beforehand," Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said citing his agency's initial probe into the death. He also said that a suicide scenario was unlikely.

Is the end really nigh for the lavish and extravagant lifestyles of personalities supposedly behind the large-scale corruption in state flood mitigation projects?

The whole flood control fiasco is getting quite messy and it's only proper that the public's demand for accountablility is only further ignited.

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