Magalong: Cabral’s last stop a probed project site
Former Public Works Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral had asked to be left alone near the site of a rockfall netting project along Kennon Road which will soon be the subject of a criminal complaint to be filed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong told the Inquirer on Friday, 12 hours after Cabral’s remains were recovered.
Citing meetings he had last week with government officials, Magalong said full documentation about irregularities in the quality of work at Kennon Road and the source of the rock-netting devices had been transmitted to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon.
She had motored up to the summer capital on Thursday morning, Dec. 18, but was reported by her driver as missing later in the day, prompting the Baguio City Police Office to assist their counterparts in Benguet’s Tuba town in the search.
Cabral was found “unconscious and unresponsive” along Bued River at Kennon Road at 8 p.m. and was officially declared dead at 12:03 a.m. on Friday, minutes after front-liners finally lifted her remains up to the roadside near the rock-netting area at Purok Maramal, Sitio Camp 5 in Barangay Camp 4.
Her body was turned over to her relatives late Saturday night, Philippine National Police Public Information Office chief Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño said in a message to the Inquirer.
‘Complete case folder’
Magalong had earlier submitted a detailed investigation report about the rock-netting projects to President Marcos, who inspected a storm-damaged rockshed and the rocknets during his Aug. 24 inspection of Kennon Road.
Rockfall netting involves a massive steel wire mesh that is attached to mountain cliffs to prevent the loose and weakened rock surface from eroding.
Magalong had made frequent inspections of Kennon Road since 2020 over suspicions that rehabilitation work there had been faulty.
Asked about the status of the Kennon probe, Magalong replied in Filipino: “It’s done. It has been submitted to ICI and DPWH. It’s a complete case investigation folder.”
A case may be filed against the Baguio and Benguet engineers who oversaw the rock-net projects and the contractor, the mayor said.
“The contractor’s rock-net materials were supplied by a company owned by the brother of Benguet Rep. Eric Go Yap,” he said.
Yap was recently implicated in the public works kickback scandal and was subjected to a freeze order covering all his assets because of a complaint regarding anomalous projects in La Union province supervised by construction firms he and his brother own.
Efforts to reach Yap in Benguet have failed as of presstime. Sources who used to handle local media releases for the lawmaker referred the Inquirer to his office at the House of Representatives.
Magalong said Cabral stopped at the same spot first on her way up to Baguio and again on her way down.
It was the spot where she was last seen alive by her driver Ricardo Hernandez, who was instructed to leave at 3 p.m. and returned at 5 p.m. but could not find her, prompting him to report Cabral’s disappearance to the police at 7 p.m.
Hernandez himself is the subject of a police investigation, PNP acting chief Melencio Nartatez Jr. said on Sunday.
Earlier information obtained by authorities suggested that Cabral did not have a room there when she visited.
On Saturday, Ion Hotel was the subject of a search warrant by law enforcers and agents of the National Bureau of Investigation to retrieve security footage of Cabral’s activities and whatever belongings she might have left.
On Sunday, Ion issued a statement denying the hotel’s reported ties to Cabral and Yap. “Undersecretary Cabral and Congressman Yap have not, and have never been, owners, shareholders, directors, officers, or beneficial owners of Ion Hotel,” according to the hotel’s legal counsel Enrique dela Cruz Jr.
He added that the hotel will exercise its legal options against people who have been circulating this falsehood.
