THE ANATOMY OF A SYSTEMIC HEIST

I. Prologue: The Unveiling of the Digital Ledger

The final days of 2025 have brought no peace to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Instead, the agency finds itself at the center of the “DPWH Leaks”—a collection of sensitive documents allegedly left behind by the late Undersecretary Maria Catalina “Kathy” Cabral.

These files have become the “Rosetta Stone” for understanding how the national budget is transformed into a private menu for the political elite. The revelations are not merely about corruption; they are about a profound “Inappropriate Intervention” where technical studies are bypassed in favor of political “wish lists.”

II. The Dynastic Wish List: Davao and Beyond

The most explosive aspect of the leaks involves the direct link to the nation’s most powerful families. According to an exclusive agenda report from the Bilyonaryo News Channel, the “Cabral Files” include specific requested projects from Vice President Sara Duterte dating back to her tenure as the Mayor of Davao City.

The documents list sixteen distinct line items totaling billions of pesos for road projects. Five of these projects were located within Davao City, while one was positioned in Davao del Sur. The data nerve center of the DPWH, which Cabral controlled, reportedly processed these “requests” not as emergency interventions, but as prioritized items within the 2020 budget proposal.

The Vice President is not the only family member on the list. Her brother, Representative Paulo “Pulong” Duterte, is also linked to sixteen line items amounting to more than $764$ million pesos.

Forensic analysis of the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA) confirms that many of these projects “successfully” transitioned from the wish list into law. Even former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque appears in the ledger with four requested projects, two of which secured funding of two million pesos each.

Whistleblower Roberto Bernardo, a former DPWH Undersecretary, has characterized this system as a fundamental breach of governance. Under standard operating procedures, budget proposals should originate from technical assessments conducted by career engineers and planners.

Instead, the leaks suggest that Cabral functioned as a high-level “broker,” actively contacting legislators to solicit their lists of desired projects to be “inserted” into the National Expenditure Program (NEP). This proactive solicitation created an environment where “kickback schemes” could flourish before a single shovel hit the ground.

III. The Zambales Miracle: The Three Thousand Peso Trap

While the billions in Davao draw the headlines, the most visceral example of the scandal’s absurdity is found in Kabangan, Zambales. The “Cabral Files” identified former DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos and his father, former Mayor Benjamin Abalos Sr., as the proponents of a $100$ million flood control structure.

However, the Abalos family has responded with a counter-exposé that has shocked the public. According to Benjamin Abalos Sr., the “project” was actually born from his own frustration. His family’s fishponds had been destroyed twice by a damaged riverbank. Despite repeated pleas to local DPWH engineers, he was told there was “no budget” for the repair.

Taking matters into his own hands, Abalos Sr. hired a backhoe and personally funded the repair. The total cost of the labor and materials was approximately three thousand pesos. When the matandang Abalos discovered that the DPWH had later inserted a $100$ million budget item for the same repair—listing him as the proponent—his reaction was one of pure outrage.

“Why is there an allocation of $100$ million for a project that only cost three thousand pesos?” he demanded in a recent interview. This “Zambales Miracle” exposes the mechanism of “Budget Overpricing,” where legitimate civilian complaints are hijacked by the agency to serve as “placeholders” for massive, fraudulent insertions. If the Abalos family had not been high-profile figures with the courage to speak out, the $99.7$ million peso discrepancy would likely have been laundered into the pockets of the “Silver Wolves” syndicate.

IV. Silver Wolves: The $16.6$ Billion Money Laundering Matrix

The investigation into the Yap brothers—Congressmen Eric and Edvic Yap—has entered a new, more dangerous phase. The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has uncovered a “chilling modus” involving a firm called Silver Wolves Construction.

According to the AMLC report, Silver Wolves Construction received approximately $16.6$ bilyong piso in funds from the DPWH for various infrastructure projects. However, a forensic audit of the company’s bank accounts revealed a staggering anomaly: the amount of money flowing into the company far exceeded the value of their completed projects. In short, billions of pesos had effectively vanished.

The AMLC believes the funds were “funneled” to the Yap brothers and their associates through a technique known as “Layering.” This process involves moving money through a complex web of accounts and shell companies to obscure the original source—the DPWH treasury.

By the time the money reached its final destination, it had been washed to look like legitimate corporate profit. The discovery of this layering led to the immediate freezing of the brothers’ assets, but the damage to public trust is already done. The $16.6$ billion that was supposed to build roads and bridges in La Union and other provinces has instead become a case study in the “m*rder of the national budget.”

V. The ICI in “ICU”: The De@th of a Paper Tiger

The most tragic victim of the flood control scandal is the very institution meant to solve it: the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI). Akbayan Representative Perci Cendaña has described the commission’s current state as “dying in the ICU.”

The “k*lling blow” to the ICI was the failure of the administration to certify the ICAAC Bill (Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption) as urgent. Without this certification, the commission lacks the power of subpoena and contempt. They cannot compel the “Big Fish” to testify, and they cannot jail those who lie to them. Cendaña noted that the bill was moving rapidly through committees led by figures like Chel Diokno and Leila de Lima, only to “run out of breath” when it reached the Committee on Appropriations.

There are growing suspicions that elements within the administration are intentionally slowing down the ICI to protect the proponents named in the “Cabral List.” Cendaña sarcastically asked if the public would have to wait until the Chinese New Year for a single arrest, given that the “Merry Christmas in jail” promise went unfulfilled. The commission has seen a wave of resignations from its most credible members, who refuse to serve as “paper tigers” while the billion-peso heist continues in the background.

VI. Conclusion: The Standoff of the Final List

The “DPWH Leaks” have converged into a single, terrifying picture: a government where the national budget is manipulated through “wish lists,” where $3,000$ peso repairs are used to hide $100$ million peso thefts, and where $16.6$ billion pesos can disappear through the “layering” of a single contractor.

The standoff is no longer between the government and the corrupt; it is between the institutions of justice and the “subconscious mind” of a system that refuses to change. As the public watches the ICI “die in the ICU,” the only remaining hope lies in the continuous leaking of the “Cabral Files.”

Kathy Cabral may be gone, but her digital ghost is now the most powerful prosecutor in the country. As 2026 approaches, the Filipino people are left with one question: Who will be left standing when the “wish list” finally becomes a “conviction list”? The battle for the treasury is no longer a boxing match—it is a race to see if the truth can outrun the cover-up.