THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has complied with a subpoena from the Office of the Ombudsman, turning over all of former Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral’s computers and files on Tuesday.
The turnover included documents and other requests for consideration in the programming of the National Expenditure Program (NEP) over the past decade.
The DPWH stated that the action was in compliance with the Ombudsman’s Subpoena Duces Tecum, which directed the agency to produce and turn over all computers and devices issued to Cabral. Undersecretaries Nicasio Conti, Arthur Bisnar, Ricardo Bernabe III, and Charles Calima Jr. represented the DPWH in the turnover to the Ombudsman.
The move comes amidst ongoing investigations into alleged fund anomalies in flood control projects, with which Cabral had been linked. Cabral, who resigned from the DPWH in September, was found “unconscious and unresponsive” below a highway in Tuba, Benguet on December 18, hours after instructing her driver to leave her on Kennon Road. She was pronounced dead shortly after midnight on December 19.
While Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla suggested Cabral’s actions indicated an intent to commit suicide, the Philippine National Police has stated that its investigation is still ongoing and no conclusion has been reached. The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) had also planned to invite Cabral as a resource person in its probe into alleged ghost and substandard flood control projects.
