(UPDATE) FORMER Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral has resigned amid allegations linking her to questionable budget insertions, but the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has ordered her to appear in its next hearings.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon confirmed on Thursday that he accepted Cabral’s courtesy resignation on Sept. 14, two days before the Senate hearing on anomalous flood control projects.
Cabral, who served as undersecretary for planning and public-private partnerships, skipped Thursday’s session — marking her first absence from a Senate probe. She last appeared in a related House inquiry on Sept. 9.
During the hearing, Dizon told the panel that Cabral had informed the committee of her resignation and may have requested not to appear before the inquiry anymore. He clarified, however, that her stepping down would not stop the department’s internal investigation.
“We will continue our investigations and hold accountable all individuals involved in the clear crimes that have been committed against the Filipino people,” he said.
Despite Cabral’s resignation, the Senate insisted she must still face questioning.
“Even if she resigned, it will not matter to us because there are personal questions that we need to ask,” Sen. Rodante Marcoleta said.
Panel chairman Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson agreed, prompting the issuance of a subpoena compelling Cabral to attend the next hearing.
The Blue Ribbon Committee is probing claims that billions in questionable flood control allocations were inserted into the national budget and funneled to favored contractors.
Lacson earlier alleged that Cabral had approached the office of Senate President Vicente Sotto III shortly after the May 2025 senatorial elections, asking which items the senator wanted included in the proposed 2026 national budget.
In a Sept. 9 privileged speech, Lacson presented a screenshot of the alleged communication between Cabral and Sotto’s staff, claiming that someone identifying herself as “Undersecretary Cabral” called while the National Expenditure Program was still being finalized, weeks before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his State of the Nation Address on July 28.
Cabral, as planning undersecretary, was responsible for the department’s infrastructure programming and public-private partnership projects.
