The Office of the Ombudsman on Monday in Manila ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways to turn over all computer and electronic devices previously issued to Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral to determine how officials handled data in connection with the ongoing investigation into the so-called Flood Control Scandal.
Assistant Ombudsman Jose Dominic Clavano IV said the Office of the Ombudsman issued a subpoena duces tecum to the Department of Public Works and Highways and directed the agency to produce Cabral’s government-issued computer and electronic devices.
Clavano said the Office of the Ombudsman would subject the devices to forensic examination by a law enforcement agency after the Department of Public Works and Highways turns them over.
He said the forensic examination would aim to determine whether any data in Cabral’s devices was altered, deleted, or tampered with after the Flood Control Scandal became public.
Police investigators on Monday continued to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of Cabral, whose body rescuers found on Friday at the bottom of a ravine in Benguet province.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said investigators determined that Cabral died of blunt force trauma consistent with a fall.
Remulla said police investigators continued to gather evidence in Benguet province to establish the sequence of events that led to Cabral’s fall.
He said investigators would submit their findings to the appropriate agencies after they completed the fact-finding process.
