BAGUIO CITY — Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Ma. Catalina E. Cabral has died following an alleged fall from a section of Kennon Road in Benguet province, police authorities confirmed.
Cabral, 63, was declared dead after her remains were recovered at around 12:30 a.m. along Kennon Road. According to police, she was found beside the Bued River, approximately 20 to 30 meters below the highway.
Initial reports indicated that Cabral was earlier found “unconscious and unresponsive” several hours after she reportedly asked her driver to leave her at a portion of Kennon Road while they were en route to La Union. Benguet police described the incident as an “alleged fall,” and further investigation is ongoing.
Strange Coincidence
Cabral had previously been implicated in allegations involving budget insertions and kickbacks linked to multibillion-peso flood control projects. She denied any involvement in the alleged 2026 budget insertions, according to DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon.
At the time of her service, Cabral held the position of Undersecretary for Planning and Public-Private Partnership, where she oversaw the preparation of the DPWH budget, infrastructure planning and programming, and the agency’s public-private partnership projects.
A licensed civil engineer, Cabral held doctorate degrees in Business Management and Public Administration and was a Ph.D. candidate in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of the Philippines. She also earned three master’s degrees and completed executive programs at institutions including Wharton, the Harvard Kennedy School, and Mohamed Bin Zayed University, with specialization in data analytics, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence.
Cabral made history as the first female president of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) and later served as national president of the Road Engineering Association of the Philippines. In 2021, she was appointed Professional Chair in Engineering Science and Technology at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
