Former Public Works Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, one of the most senior career officials ever to serve at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), died on December 19 after she was found unresponsive along the Bued River near Kennon Road in Benguet.
Her death came as sprawling investigations continued into alleged ghost and anomalous flood control projects worth billions of pesosโcontroversies that have implicated senior DPWH officials, contractors, and lawmakers across multiple administrations. At the time of her death, Cabral remained one of the last central figures investigators were seeking to question.
A nearly three-decade career in public service
Cabral spent close to 30 years at the DPWH. She began her career as a civil engineering aide while still completing her studies, later passing the licensure examination and steadily rising through the bureaucracy.
She eventually became the first female rank-and-file employee to reach the position of undersecretary, a milestone the DPWH itself once highlighted in its official profile of her as a symbol of โWoman Infrastructureโ in what it described as a traditionally male-dominated agency.
Beyond government service, Cabral also broke barriers in the engineering profession. She became the first woman president of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers from 2017 to 2018 and later served as president of the Road Engineering Association of the Philippines from 2019 to 2021.
Where her power lay inside DPWH
Cabral was not a field implementer. She did not supervise district engineers or inspect construction sites.
Her influence, investigators said, was concentrated in budget programming and allocation.
Former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, in affidavits and Senate testimony, described Cabral as a key gatekeeper in the budgeting process. As undersecretary for planning, she oversaw the programming and allocation of infrastructure funds, including flood control projects.
Bernardo said Cabral worked closely with thenโPublic Works Secretary Mark Villar, now a senator.
โThe funding of all projects was cleared through [Undersecretary] Cabral for approval by [Secretary] Villar,โ Bernardo testified.
โFrom time to time, [Undersecretary] Cabral would ask me to submit a detailed list of projects regarding lump-sum fund allocations of DPWH, which she sometimes approves herself or forwards to Secretary Villar for approval.โ
Bernardo further alleged that approved projects carried a 10% commission, which he said was divided as follows:
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50% to Carlo Aguilar, allegedly for Secretary Villar
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25% to Undersecretary Cabral
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25% to himself
He also claimed that, as a general rule, Cabralโwith the approval of Villar and later continued under former DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoanโhad authority at the DPWH level to โremove, include, add, deduct, or modify insertionsโ in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for infrastructure projects.
Cabral denied these allegations. In congressional hearings, she consistently maintained that her office had no role in project implementation and said she had no knowledge of ghost or substandard projects, insisting that such matters were handled by district and regional offices.
Early scrutiny in House hearings
Cabral came under public scrutiny during House infrastructure committee hearings in early September.
During one hearing, Antipolo City 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop questioned Cabral about Executive Order No. 124, the 1987 order that reorganized the Ministry of Public Works and Highways into the modern DPWH.
When Cabral said she could not recall the EOโs number, Acop responded:
โThatโs your charter, but you do not even know it.โ
โI apologize, Your Honor,โ Cabral replied.
Acop later pressed her on discrepancies between district engineering office proposals and what appeared in the proposed 2026 budget. Cabral insisted that her office did not alter submissions from district engineering offices, saying they relied on figures endorsed by regional coordinators.
Confirming the โฑ51-billion allocation
In another House hearing, Cabral confirmed reports that about โฑ51 billion in infrastructure projects had been allocated to the district of Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte from 2020 to 2022โyears that coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Manila Rep. Joel Chua questioned Cabral about a 2024 report detailing the allocations. Initially, Cabral said she needed to verify the figures.
โAgain, I have to check, Your Honor, because I am not certain of the number in the published news,โ she said.
The report cited showed that for 2020, Malacaรฑang proposed โฑ4.6 billion, which later increased to โฑ13.745 billion in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
For 2021, the proposal rose from โฑ9.67 billion to โฑ25 billion.
For 2022, the budget increased from โฑ10 billion to โฑ13.04 billion.
When pressed further, Cabral eventually affirmed the figures.
โI guess I remember, Your Honor. I think there is an interview that time,โ she said.
Asked directly if she was confirming the amounts allocated to Duterteโs district, Cabral answered simply:
โYes, Your Honor.โ
Documents later obtained by the Philippine Daily Inquirer showed that significant portions of these funds were centrally managed, rather than coursed through district engineering officesโraising further questions about national-level control over allocations.
Alleged early NEP insertions
Cabralโs name figured prominently again in September after Sen. Panfilo โPingโ Lacson disclosed what he described as documentary proof of early budget insertions during a privilege speech in the Senate.
Lacson said Cabral allegedly contacted the staff of former Senate President Vicente โTitoโ Sotto III shortly after the midterm elections, asking them to propose projects for early insertion into the 2026 National Expenditure Program.
โOne Undersecretary Cabral called Sottoโs staff and told them to insert what they wanted to insert,โ Lacson said in an interview with dzBB.
By then, Cabral had already appeared in multiple Senate and House hearings on flood control projects, repeatedly saying she did not have answers to many of the questions raised.
According to Lacson, the official who claimed to be Cabral initiated the call and invited early proposals for NEP insertionsโan allegation that further intensified scrutiny on her role in the budget process.
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