ASEANEWS HEADLINE-COURTS & CRIME | MANILA, Philippines: It’s her: Cabral died of injuries from fall
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She snubbed ICI, opted for Baguio break, says widower
In a chance interview with reporters, Remulla said forensic findings, including fingerprint comparison, confirmed that the body found Thursday near the Bued River in Tuba, Benguet was Cabral’s and that no foul play was detected.
“The official copy of the DNA report will be out soon,” Remulla said.
“Fingerprint comparison matches. The autopsy and crime scene investigation show no foul play, no gunshot wounds, no ligature marks, no stab wounds. Death was caused by blunt force trauma,” he told reporters.
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He said investigators documented multiple severe injuries during the examination.
“We saw fractures on the right side of her face, injuries at the back of the head, ribs that penetrated internal organs and broken legs. There were no signs of struggle in the vehicle and no skin cells found under the fingernails,” Remulla added.
Police earlier said the autopsy was conducted by the Police Regional Office-Cordillera Administrative Region’s forensic team, led by Maj. Nolan Genova, at around 3:45 a.m. yesterday at the Cordillera Serenity Memorial in Irisan, Baguio City.
Authorities said Cabral’s husband witnessed the procedure, which was completed without incident. The family agreed to the autopsy yesterday, after initially opposing it
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News of Cabral’s death sparked both shock and suspicion, as she was at the center of investigations on multibillion-peso anomalies in flood control projects.
And as suspicion and doubts linger, her loved ones have appealed for compassion, restraint and respect for their privacy, while rejecting calls for the seizure of her personal belongings.
In a statement, Cabral’s lawyer, Mae Divinagracia, said the family is grieving under “painful and sensitive circumstances” and asked the public to refrain from speculation and from making insensitive comments.
“A life has been lost, and this is neither the time nor the occasion to rush to extract answers from the personal effects of the deceased,” Divinagracia said.
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Unnecessary
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The family stressed that no criminal, civil or administrative complaint had been filed against Cabral that would justify the seizure of her phone or other belongings, adding that calls for DNA testing were also unnecessary as her remains had already been positively identified by relatives.
She also dismissed as “reckless and baseless” insinuations that Cabral and her family faked her death, as she appealed for the prompt release of her remains so she could be laid to rest “with dignity and peace.”
Divinagracia reiterated Cabral’s “consistent and unequivocal” denial of any involvement in anomalous flood control projects, saying accusations linking her to the scandal were based solely on the uncorroborated testimony of a former official of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
“For more than four decades, beginning from when she was still a college student, Ms. Cabral devoted her life to public service in the DPWH,” Divinagracia said in the statement, describing Cabral’s career as one marked by diligence, perseverance and a strong sense of duty.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has also appealed to the public to give respect to Cabral’s family.
“This is, above all else, a time of mourning for her family. Regardless of any issues that may have surrounded her public life, we must remember the human loss involved,” Estrada said.
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“Let us give her grieving family the space, peace and understanding they need during this extremely difficult time,” he added.
Estrada himself is accused of receiving kickbacks from his flood control projects, an allegation he has strongly denied.
Cabral, according to the statement, had been willing to cooperate with all investigations and had even appeared before several bodies, including the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, the House infrastructure committee and the Office of the Ombudsman.
In the statement, her family said her absence from a Dec. 15 hearing of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) was due to lack of official notice.
ICI snubbed
But in an interview on Friday with ABS-CBN News, Cabral’s husband Cesar said she had opted to “unwind” in Baguio City rather than appear anew before the ICI to “take the pressure off” her mind. Her first appearance before the ICI was on Sept.24.
“Before she went to Baguio, she traveled to Batangas to unwind,” Cesar said in Filipino.
“I then asked her why she didn’t attend the ICI hearing on the 15th despite having a lawyer. She said, ‘Nothing. I don’t like how, sometimes, the ICI invites whoever it wants,’” Cesar recalled his late wife telling him.
Cabral asked her driver, Cardo Hernandez, to leave her alone at Camp 4 along Kennon Road at around 3 p.m. on Thursday. She was no longer in the area when he came back for her two hours later.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan said authorities, particularly the DILG, should make sure the remains recovered supposedly of Cabral were really hers, citing speculations she had faked her death.
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He cited the case of publishing agent Mary Ann Maslog, who faked her death to evade a corruption trial over the anomalous P24-million text book scam. She was later convicted by the Sandiganbayan.
“We do not wish to be insensitive if indeed death has been established, but considering that billions of pesos are involved, we call on Sec. Jonvic Remulla to check and validate if the remains of former usec. Cathy Cabral were properly identified by the authorities concerned,” Pangilinan said. “Faking death to escape criminal liability for corruption has happened before,” he added.
House probe continues
Meanwhile, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said the congressional investigation on flood control anomalies will proceed despite Cabral’s death.
“The investigations will continue whether or not usec Cabral is present. Many cases have already been filed and proceeded without her testimony and even without her documents,” he said.
“We leave it to the investigating bodies to determine what truly happened. That is the most respectful approach to both the deceased and those she left behind,” Ridon said. “This is not for senators or congressmen to decide.”
He stressed that the flood control probe does not depend on Cabral’s presence or testimony.
“It is unfortunate that she can no longer contribute, but the evidence did not come from her alone. It came from many people,” he said.
He admitted Cabral had been willing to testify, noting her appearances at several congressional briefings.
“To be fair, she showed up in House infrastructure briefings. One of the most important testimonies she gave was confirming the P51-billion insertions during the 2019 to 2022 period,” he said.
While her death has extinguished her criminal liability, “her estate may still have to answer for properties if these are proven to be proceeds of wrongdoing.”
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An ICI report stated that Cabral had direct supervision over budget insertions made at the National Expenditure Program (NEP) level.
In crafting the budgets from 2023 to 2025, she allegedly paved the way for lawmakers to funnel kickbacks from projects by including these items in the NEP, with the blessing of her two principals, former DPWH secretaries Sen. Mark Villar and Manuel Bonoan.
At a press briefing with Department of Justice officials on Friday, ICI chairman Andres Reyes Jr. lamented the loss of a key witness who would have provided more clarity on the corruption scheme.
“We were hoping to talk to her and tell us what she has done or what she knows,” Reyes said.
“It is a shame that she did not attend or maybe she avoided going to us on Dec. 15,” the retired associate justice added. — EJ Macababbad, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Artemio Dumlao
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