THE FINAL DIVE: SHOCKING DASHCAM LEAKS REVEAL THE LAST MOMENTS OF THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
The asphalt of Canon Road holds a dark, chilling secret that the nation is only beginning to piece together. In a plot thick with political intrigue, multi-billion peso anomalies, and a trail of high-profile names, the mysterious death of former DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina “Cathy” Cabral has sent shockwaves through the halls of power.
As of December 29, 2025, the investigation has reached a fever pitch. A newly surfaced dashcam video obtained by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has provided the “smoking gun” regarding her final seconds on earth. This is no longer just a cold case; it is an explosive revelation of a woman driven to the brink—or perhaps, a woman silenced by the weight of the secrets she carried.
3:26 PM: The Image of Despair
The timestamp reads 15:25:37, December 18, 2025. In the grainy footage captured by a passing vehicle, the figure of Catalina Cabral is seen for the last time. She is not standing defiantly; she is not arguing. She is sitting on the cold ground, wedged between two concrete safety barriers overlooking a jagged ravine.
She is alone. Her car is gone. Her driver is 100 meters away at a gas station, following her orders to “let her relax.”
According to NBI investigators, this posture—sitting low, hidden between the blocks—indicates a person prepared to disappear.
“She was positioned in a way that suggests she was ready to slide or dive,” an investigator noted. “This wasn’t a tourist taking a selfie. This was a woman at the edge of the world.”
The 51-Billion Peso Ghost
Why would a woman of Cabral’s stature—a brilliant engineer and a veteran of the DPWH—end up on a dusty road in Tuba, Benguet? The answer lies in the Php 51 Billion “insertions” she confirmed just months before her death.
In a bombshell hearing, Cabral validated reports of massive flood control budget allocations linked to Congressman Paulo “Pulong” Duterte between 2020 and 2022. This wasn’t just a ledger entry; it was the largest alleged corruption scandal in the history of Philippine infrastructure.
Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who has filed formal charges against Duterte, remains skeptical of the “suicide” narrative.
“She was the key witness. She was the one who could tie the documents to the faces,” Trillanes stated in an intense interview. “Now that she’s dead, they think the evidence dies with her. But the records are permanent. We are filing in January 2026, and we are not stopping.”
3D Scans and the “Slide of Death”
While the public whispers of “foul play” and “political hits,” the PNP Forensic Group has released a startling 3D scan of the crime scene. The data suggests that Cabral was not pushed. Instead, the evidence points to a “controlled slide” (nagpadausdos) down the ravine.
The Evidence: Scrapes were found on the palms of her hands and her back.
The Distance: Her body was recovered only 2.8 meters from the base of the cliff.
The Impact: Forensic experts claim that if she had been shoved with force, her body would have landed much further away. Instead, it appears she slid down, hitting the jagged rocks with such violence that her face was shattered and her limbs broken.
The Toxic Cocktail: Anxiety and Antidepressants
Inside Cabral’s abandoned bag at her hotel, authorities discovered a pharmacy of despair: Anti-anxiety medication and pills for chronic insomnia. Mental health experts testifying in the NBI probe warn of a “lethal grogginess.” One side effect of these high-potency psychiatric drugs is a detachment from reality, which, when coupled with extreme political pressure, can trigger suicidal ideation. Was the stress of being the “star witness” against the most powerful family in the south too much for her to bear? Or was her “depression” a convenient narrative crafted by those who wanted her gone?
The Duterte Connection: A Web of Friendship and Finance
The investigation has also branched out into the “Duterte inner circle.” Secretary John Vick Ruyul confirmed that Cabral recently sold a hotel to Benguet Representative Eric Yap, a known close associate of Pulong Duterte.
The links are undeniable:
The Tuba Project: Investigators found that Yap and Cabral were connected through a massive “rocking project” in Tuba, Benguet, which passed through Cabral’s office during her tenure.
The Appropriation Link: Eric Yap served as the House Appropriations Committee Chairman from 2020 to 2022—the same years the Php 51 billion was allegedly funneled.
The Partnership: Trillanes alleges that Yap and Duterte are “partners in crime,” with assets already being frozen by the Ombudsman in relation to other anomalies.
Final Verdict: Suicide or Strategic Silence?
The NBI and PNP seem to be leaning toward a suicide conclusion, backed by the dashcam video and the psychiatric evidence. They see a woman broken by the “notorious” influence of the Duterte administration, a woman who knew she was a marked witness.
However, the “correlations” are too perfect for many. How does a woman who served the DPWH for decades, surviving countless political shifts, suddenly “slide” off a cliff just as a 51-billion peso lawsuit is being finalized?
As the sun sets on the investigation this December, the image of Catalina Cabral sitting between those concrete barriers haunts the nation. She was the gatekeeper of the truth. Now, the gates are closed, but the documents she validated remain like ghosts in the system.
“The truth will be told in January,” Trillanes promises. But for Catalina Cabral, the truth has already exacted its final, fatal price.
