BAGUIO, Philippines – The family of former public works undersecretary Maria Catalina “Cathy” Cabral has refused an autopsy to be conducted on her body, Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong said on Friday, December 19. 

The mayor, who chairs the Cordilleras’ Regional Peace and Order Council, also confirmed that Cabral’s driver, Cardo Hernandez, who reported her disappearance, has been taken into custody. 

Cabral, who has been implicated in the multi-billion-peso infrastructure corruption scandal, was found unconscious on Thursday night, December 18, after allegedly falling into a ravine along Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet. She was declared dead past midnight of Friday. 

Cabral was billeted at Ion Hotel in Baguio City before her death. 

Magalong said authorities need to properly explain to Cabral’s family the legal necessity of an autopsy, which they had wanted to skip. He said that, under Philippine law, deaths considered suspicious should undergo a medico-legal examination. 

Magalong also said authorities had examined Cabral’s car for potentially sensitive documents or items, but said none were found.

According to initial police reports, her driver Hernandez claimed that Cabral had asked him to bring her to the roadside of Kennon and leave her there. In interviews with the media at the crime scene, he said he returned to the site after an hour, although the police report said it was after two hours. He didn’t find her where he left Cabral, so he reported her missing to the police. 

Cabral’s body was retrieved at the Bued riverbank down the ravine. The crime scene is about two minutes away from the anomalous P264-million rockshed project of the DPWH that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called “useless” for being substandard last August.

The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered Benguet authorities to secure and preserve Cabral’s cellphone and other digital devices. Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said the devices must be turned over to investigators, and stressed that Cabral’s cellphone should be preserved.

As of this writing, police have not yet publicly confirmed whether Cabral’s cellphone and other gadgets have been recovered or secured, nor where they are currently in custody.

Magalong, who previously encountered Cabral during interviews when he was special adviser to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure, declined to speculate on how her death might affect ongoing investigations. He said conclusions should only be drawn after medico-legal findings become available. – Rappler.com