Metro Manila, Philippines – The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it has yet to secure the mobile phone of former Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, a key figure in the flood control probe, following her sudden death.
In a press briefing on Friday, Dec. 19, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Cabral’s phone is under the custody of her family, noting the agency already requested for it to be surrendered to authorities.
Remulla admitted that there was a lapse on the part of investigators in handing over the device to Cabral’s family after her remains were retrieved.
“It was a crime scene so there were lapses on the part of the investigators but we are doing everything we can now para ma-retrieve lahat ng mga materials na iyan (so we can retrieve all these materials),” he said.
Remulla said authorities need a subpoena from the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan or the National Bureau of Investigation before it can access Cabral’s computers and other devices.
The Ombudsman and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure have ordered the police to take custody of Cabral’s gadgets as it could lead to important information in the ongoing probe on anomalous flood control projects in the government.
In a statement, ICI executive director Brian Hosaka also asked authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that there is no foul play.
“Should authorities determine one, it is possible that those responsible may also be connected to the anomalous infrastructure projects,” Hosaka said.
Cabral died on Thursday, Dec. 18 after she allegedly fell from a cliff near the Bued River along the Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet.
The former undersecretary for Planning and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) was found unconscious and unresponsive 20 or 30 meters below the highway.
The DPWH sent its condolences to the family of Cabral who served in the agency for more than four decades.
“The department urges everyone to respect the family’s need for privacy as they mourn and come to terms with the sudden loss,” the agency said.
Cabral was tagged as a key figure in supposed budget insertions and multi-million peso kickbacks from flood control projects. Former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo alleged that Cabral communicated and met with legislators to inform them of the amount of their allocations and ask them for titles of projects that they want to include in the DPWH budget.
The ICI has earlier referred administrative charges for Cabral to the ombudsman.
Earlier this week, she snubbed the ICI inquiry.
