Embattled Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Maria Catalina “Cathy” Cabral has resigned amid allegations of budget insertions linked to government infrastructure projects.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon confirmed before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that he had accepted her courtesy resignation on September 14. The development came as Cabral skipped the Senate hearing for the first time, although she had previously attended a House probe on flood control on September 9.
As an undersecretary, Cabral headed the Planning Service and PPP Office, where she oversaw the agency’s annual infrastructure program, aligned budget priorities with long-term goals, and managed public-private partnership projects.
As a key figure in shaping the department’s infrastructure strategy, she was summoned in the recent congressional hearings on the anomalous flood control projects.
Her absence at the Senate inquiry prompted the Blue Ribbon panel to issue a subpoena compelling her attendance. Committee chairman Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson stressed that resignation does not release Cabral from accountability.
Lacson had earlier revealed that shortly after the May 2025 elections, Cabral allegedly reached out to the office of Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III to inquire about possible budget insertions in the proposed 2026 national budget. He presented a screenshot of the supposed exchange in a privileged speech last week.
Earlier this month, Peanut Gallery Media Network (PGMN) aired a two-part investigation into the ₱1.225-billion Cabagan–Sta. Maria Bridge in Isabela, which collapsed in February 2025 before being fully opened to the public.
The exposé, presented by anchor CJ Hirro, identified long-standing defects dating back to 2018. These included tilted piers, missing bolts, and snapped connections.
Cabral was among the key DPWH officials Hirro said should be held accountable. She pointed out that in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the collapsed bridge, then chaired by Senator Alan Cayetano, Cabral committed perjury when she claimed she did not know of the defects.
Yet in a DPWH memo, Cabral herself cited the report of third-party investigators, Urban Engineers, in addressing the recommendation to fund the bridge’s retrofitting—and that very report detailed the defects of the structure.
According to Hirro, the ₱390-million retrofitting program—eventually approved and awarded to the same contractor responsible for the original faulty construction—was justified as an upgrade to comply with the 2015 bridge code but was in reality a cover-up for structural flaws caused by faulty construction methodology, failure to follow the approved plan, and the use of substandard materials.
By law, repairs should have been shouldered by the contractor during the defects liability period, but instead, public funds were used to cover the works.
Even with the supposed “retrofitting,” the bridge collapsed after an overloaded truck passed—a failure that should not have happened if the structure had truly been strengthened.
The Cabagan Bridge collapse had already placed DPWH leadership under intense scrutiny. The PGMN exposé further concretized how collusion inside the department operated—illustrating how cover-ups were carried out and accountability sidestepped—patterns that may also explain the persistence of ghost projects, overpriced contracts, and substandard flood control works.
Although Cabral’s resignation was officially linked to the budget insertion controversy, the bridge case and other high-profile infrastructure failures have widened calls for accountability within the agency.
Secretary Dizon said the department will continue to review its ongoing projects and fully cooperate with the Senate’s inquiry. Cabral, despite stepping down, is expected to testify before lawmakers as hearings proceed in the coming weeks.
