The remains of former Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral arrived in Metro Manila early Sunday morning.
Her body arrived at 3:21 a.m. after leaving Benguet at 11:30 p.m. the previous day, according to a GMA News report.
On Saturday, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the autopsy showed there was no foul play involved.
“‘Yung autopsy po ay number one, no signs of foul play. Wala pong ligature marks, wala pong sinakal, wala pong gunshot wound, wala rin pong knife wounds. So ang kaniyang cause of death as determined by autopsy is blunt force trauma from the fall,” Remulla said.
Cabral, a seasoned civil engineer and former DPWH undersecretary for planning and public-private partnerships, was found on Dec. 18 “unconscious and unresponsive” at the bottom of a cliff beside the Bued River, and later pronounced dead.
Hours before, she asked her driver to drop her off at a portion of Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet.
Cabral’s death has drawn intense public attention, given her role in ongoing inquiries into alleged anomalies in flood control infrastructure projects.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) was supposed to refer to the Ombudsman a plunder case that involved Cabral in relation to the alleged anomalous flood control projects in Bulacan before her death.
Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon stated that the case, which was set to be evaluated by the Office of the Ombudsman, involves some DPWH officials in the province, as well as proponents who may have obtained illegal benefits from the projects.
