Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, on Friday, Dec. 19, urged caution in handling any "list" supposedly left behind by former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral.

Sotto said this in an interview following the reported death of Cabral after she fell in a ravine in Benguet on Thursday night, Dec. 19. He warned against rushing to conclusions now that the source can no longer verify the information.

The Senate leader said it would be difficult to authenticate any claims or materials attributed to Cabral following her death. He also stressed the risk of fabrication or alteration.

“Mag-iingat tayo diyan sapagkat yung pinanggalingan na tao kung sumakabilang buhay na, paano mo be-verify na tama yun? E kung may mag-imbento o magbago at mayroong maibawas o may idagdag di na natin alam (Let’s be careful with that because the source is no longer alive—how can we verify that it’s accurate? If someone invents, alters, removes, or adds anything, we would no longer know),” Sotto said.

“Medyo dapat pag-ingatan yan. Hindi ganoon kadali yan. Huwag tayo masyadong swashbuckling (We should handle that carefully. It’s not that simple. Let's not be too swashbuckling),” he added.

Sotto made the remarks after being asked if the Senate secured a copy of a so-called list that Cabral allegedly left, which includes proponents of DPWH budget insertions.

Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste said in a Facebook post that such a list supposedly existed on Cabral’s computer and that copies were held by a few individuals.

Asked whether the Senate had secured a copy of that list from Cabral, Sotto said he was not aware of any.

“I’m not sure. I do not know,” he said. He added that the only thing he knew for certain was that Cabral had previously spoken with Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson.

“One thing I am certain is that Usec Cabral had a conversation with Senator Lacson, yun ang alam ko. Nag-usap sila pero hindi ko alam ang sinasabi na may listahan na binigay sa Blue Ribbon wala o may listahan na hawak (They spoke, but I don’t know whether they said a list was given to the Blue Ribbon or if there is a list in their possession),” Sotto said.

Earlier in the interview, Sotto said Cabral’s death was unfortunate, especially since she had spent decades at the DPWH and had extensive knowledge of the agency’s internal operations over many years.