Leviste says Cabral handed files of DPWH insertions
Batangas 1st District Rep. Leandro Leviste said that former Department of Public Works and Highways Usec. Maria Catalina Cabral gave him files listing the proponents of insertions of the whole country.
In a statement on Dec. 21, Leviste claimed that the late Cabral handed him the files on Sept. 4 after directions from DPWH Sec. Vince Dizon.
"Since then, many have asked for the late Usec. Cabral's files to be released to the public," the congressman said.
However, Leviste said that he will wait for instructions from Dizon before he reveals the list. He added that he can release the insertions to the extent that he is allowed in Congress.
The files have been shown to the Independent Commission on Infrastructure and the Ombudsman in November.
Leviste shared that he had been requesting data on the budget of each congressional district since May and was worried that the files might get lost when Cabral resigned in September amid the flood control corruption probe. He was given the files when Dizon became DPWH secretary.
The congressman stated that the release of the files "would have wide-ranging consequences."
"They list proponents of flood control and other DPWH projects from the whole government—not only Congressmen and Senators but also people from the Executive, including Secretaries and Undersecretaries outside DPWH, as well as private individuals," he wrote.
For this reason, Leviste prefers that the DPWH be the one to publicize the files.
Cabral died on Dec. 18 after she allegedly fell from a ravine along Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet. The autopsy report revealed that she died of "blunt traumatic injury consistent with a fall."
The former undersecretary's husband initially declined a request for an autopsy as he believes her death was accidental.
Cabral is one of the former DPWH officials accused of facilitating budget insertions through the National Expenditure Program by way of substandard and ghost projects and is facing administrative charges.
Former DPWH Usec. Roberto Bernardo alleged that Cabral is involved in kickbacks that benefited several public officials.
The Department of Justice also said that Cabral was among those named in the plunder case scheduled to be forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman, related to irregularities in flood control projects in Bulacan.
The Independent Commission for Infrastructure invited her on Dec. 15, but she didn't show up at the hearings.
