The Daily Tribune
Ex-DPWH exec Cabral not off the hook in Senate probe despite resignation
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon confirmed accepting the courtesy resignation of Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, who is facing accusations of initiating budget insertions in the 2026 proposed budget.
Cabral's resignation was accepted on September 14, two days before Dizon confirmed it during a Senate hearing.
She had previously requested to be excused from a Senate hearing but was told by Secretary Dizon and Senate President Tito Sotto that she should still attend.
Despite her resignation, Senator Rodante Marcoleta moved to subpoena Cabral to compel her attendance at the next Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on flood control projects.
The motion to subpoena Cabral was approved, as Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson agreed with Marcoleta.
Dizon assured senators that Cabral's resignation would not impede ongoing internal investigations into the matter.
The flood control mess has implicated several government officials and lawmakers in kickback schemes and ghost flood control projects, where billions of pesos are suspected of being plundered.
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Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has flagged approximately ₱1.52 billion in potentially anomalous flood control projects, involving eight construction firms linked to the Discaya family.
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The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee cited dismissed DPWH-Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara, DPWH assistant district engineer Jaypee Mendoza, and contractor Pacifico "Curlee" Discaya in contempt for allegedly lying during the investigation of anomalous flood control projects.
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Sally Santos, owner of SYMS Construction Trading, was granted physical protection by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee amidst her testimony on alleged anomalous flood control projects.
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The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) discovered its 2025 allocation had increased to P1.113 trillion, significantly higher than the P800-P900 billion proposed by both the House and Senate before the bicameral conference.
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House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez resigned from his post on Wednesday, September 17, amid allegations of receiving kickbacks from flood control projects, which he denies.
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