What happened to Catalina Cabral?
The FilAm Editorial
The mysterious disappearance of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Catalina Cabral—who reportedly fell along Kennon Road in Benguet on December 18—has sparked troubling questions. Was it an accident? Suicide? Foul play? Or, as some officials have openly speculated, an elaborate ruse to evade prosecution, raising even wilder claims that Cabral may still be alive and that the woman who fell was merely a “dummy”?
Ah, but Philippine politics is not the animal that it is without the theatrics! And we thought wearing a neck brace while under investigation for plunder was over-the-top optics.
Cabral, a licensed civil engineer with impeccable academic credentials and a 40-year career in public works, the first female undersecretary, is said to be “implicated in the flood control mess,” using the words of the PNA government news agency. Press reports alleged Cabral, a DPWH insider, validated the P51 billion infrastructure projects for the 1st district of Davao City when Rodrigo Duterte was mayor. The 1st district was then represented by Paolo Duterte.
At the other end of the political spectrum, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism is reporting that the influential Cabral appeared to have cleared infrastructure projects for former speaker and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and President ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.’s son, Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos. These are projects supposedly inserted in the National Budget, a highly questionable act, secured with public works funding. Traditionally labeled “pork barrel,” such allocations are now referred to by the more ambiguous term “allocables.” The label may have changed, but the function remains largely the same: funds are approved even when projects are unidentified, uncertain, or, in some cases, allegedly non-existent. It remains unclear whether the Romualdez and Marcos-linked projects fall into those categories.
According to the PCIJ report:
“While much has been written about the massive payoffs from flood-control projects, there is little clarity on what are called ‘allocable’ funds that the DPWH provides to congressional districts. These funds represent a new form of pork because, in the words of the People’s Budget Coalition, they are ‘discretionary, politically motivated,’ and directed toward ‘politically determined projects that crowd out more equitable and accountable public spending.’
“From 2023 to 2025, the highest shares of nearly P1.2 trillion in ‘allocable’ funds have gone to President Marcos’ son Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander ‘Sandro’ Marcos and cousin Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. The younger Marcos had been allotted P15.8 billion and Romualdez, P14.4 billion, for the past three years.
“DPWH documents obtained and vetted by the PCIJ show that presidential son Sandro Marcos had the highest pork barrel amount among all district congressmen in 2025. His uncle, former House Speaker Rep. Romualdez, is second.”
Investigations remain ongoing, and further revelations may yet surface regarding Cabral’s alleged role—who she supported, facilitated, backed up or shielded within the system. But the central mystery persists. If it was suicide, what drove her to it? If it was murder, who stood to benefit?
