The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Saturday said the autopsy results of resigned Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral are expected to be released “within the day.”
PNP Public Information Office chief Police Brigadier General Randulf Tuaño made the confirmation after Cabral’s remains were subjected to an autopsy earlier in the day.
He added that a DNA test was not conducted.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) had ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to immediately conduct an autopsy on Cabral, citing “suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.”
Cabral’s family previously opposed the authorities’ order to have her remains autopsied. Her husband, Cesar, said it is their family’s sole wish to bring Cabral’s remains back to Metro Manila so they can grieve properly.
However, the family later allowed authorities to subject the former DPWH official to the autopsy.
Cabral, tagged as a key personality in the massive corruption scandal involving flood control projects, died on Friday after allegedly falling into the Bued River in Tuba, Benguet, some 20 to 30 meters from the highway, according to the police.
