𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗮 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱

𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗮 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱

Police Major Peter Camsol Jr., the Acting Chief of Police of the Tuba Municipal Police Station and Police Colonel Lambert Suerte, the Provincial Director of the Benguet Police Provincial Office have been relieved of office. 

They were relieved through a directive by DILG Secretary Johnvic Remulla for their alleged mishandling of the case of ex-DPWH undersecretary Catalina Cabral.

Authorities Still Trying to Convince the Family of Catalina Cabral to Allow DNA Testing and Autopsy on Her Remains

The request of the authorities that the body of Catalina Cabral should go through DNA testing and autopsy is understandable. These are necessary. 

Cabral isn't just an ordinary citizen. She has been tagged in the biggest corruption scandal in recent memory that has hit the country. A corruption scandal that is worth billions of pesos. Billions of pesos from the nation's coffers.

No stone should be left unturned with regards to establishing her identity and the circumstances of her demise. The authorities have to be 100% sure to avoid any problems that may arise in the future. Don't forget that the investigations into anomalous DPWH projects are just getting started and that Cabral was a key player in the agency. 

However, the family of Cabral doesn't want her remains to go through DNA testing and autopsy. The husband has stated that there's no need for an autopsy because he believes that his wife's fall was an accident.

Therein lies the dilemma.

Ceasar Cabral, Catalina Cabral's Husband Believes Her Death Was an Accident

In an interview with members of the media on Friday, Engineer Ceasar Cabral, the husband of Catalina Cabral said that he believes the death of his wife was an accident. 

Engineer Cabral also reiterated that his family doesn't want the body of Catalina to undergo autopsy. He mentioned that reports in the media saying the family has expressed willingness to allow autopsy are false.

No Autopsy for Maria Catalina Cabral is Family Decision Says Mayor Magalong

The remains of Maria Catalina Cabral won't be undergoing an autopsy. The family of the deceased made the decision. This is according to Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong who was interviewed by Bombo Radyo Baguio to shed light on Cabral's passing. However, Magalong explained that if it's up to him, Cabral should undergo an autopsy in order to find answers as to what actually happened. 

Cabral, a former undersecretary of the DPWH has been tagged in the anomalous flood control projects under the agency. She's allegedly one of the architects of the system that enabled politicians, government officials, and contractors to siphon billions of pesos from flood control projects. 

Many of the secrets she knew about corruption in her former agency are now in the bottom of the Bued River. Her death is a major setback in finding the whole truth about corruption in the DPWH.

An Unexpected Duo: Benguet and High-Level Corruption

The province of Benguet has been news fodder for months now. And most of the stories are on the negative side of the street. And most of these stories are in connection with anomalous flood control projects. 

Earlier this month, Eric Yap, the lone congressman of the province had his assets freezed due to alleged involvement in the anomalous projects. It's been nearly two weeks since but the congressman has not released a statement or update to address the freezing of his assets. Most i-Benguets don't know where he is.

Today, a former undersecretary of the DPWH also tagged with the anomalous flood control projects died after an alleged fall along Kennon Road. Was it an accident? Was it self-inflicted? Was there foul play? Time will tell. 

It won't stop here, for sure. Benguet will be in the hot seat this coming 2026. Interesting times ahead for the province. 

A once peaceful province. Now embroiled in one of the worst cases of national corruption to hit the country.

Con Artists Using AI to Create Fake Stories and Scam People

There are many people out there especially among older folks who can't distinguish AI images from real ones. With how advanced AI technology is today, even young and tech-savvy people sometimes find it difficult to distinguish if a photo is real or AI-generated.

This makes AI an effective tool by scammers and con artists. Scammers using AI to fool their victims are now becoming more and more common. 

Let this story of Katrine from La Trinidad, Benguet be a warning. Yesterday morning, Katrine's aunt received messages on Facebook from someone claiming to be a "friend" of Katrine. According to the friend's story, Katrine was hit by a motorcycle in Km. 5, La Trinidad. She was rushed to the hospital and is in critical condition and that urgent surgery is needed. But for the surgery to proceed, a downpayment of 35K needs to be paid immediately. 

The "friend" claims she has already paid 10K of the amount with her own money pero yun lang daw laman ng wallet niya. So she needs 25K to complete the amount. She asked Katrine's aunt if she can send her the 25K immediately.

To make the story believable, the "friend" sent Katrine's aunt several photos of the supposed accident and photos taken from the hospital. One photo even had the likeness of Katrine being wheeled through a hospital hallway.

The aunt started panicking and was ready to send the money. Luckily, when she went to a nearby store to supposedly send some of the amount via Gcash, the storekeeper noticed her distress and asked what's going on. The aunt showed the storekeeper the photos. The storekeeper told her there's something off with the photos. They don't look real.

Already starting to get suspicious, the aunt called Katrine's manager at her workplace. Katrine isn't allowed to use her phone while on duty so her aunt called her manager instead. The manager told her Katrine is currently at her desk working. 

That's when the aunt realized that the photos sent to her were not real and someone posing as Katrine's friend was trying to scam her. 

Katrine's aunt didn't get scammed this time. She got lucky. But we all know that these scammers work by the numbers. They target dozens of people at the same time. Most of the scams will not be successful but there will be one or two who will fall to the scam. 

𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: In this age of AI, don't believe every photo or video you see online. There's a reason why the scammer who targeted Katrine's aunt used an accident story for the attempted scam. An accident story creates a sense of urgency. It also causes the targets to panic or become anxious thus making them easier to manipulate.

Igorot Traditional Backpacks Called "Dagi" on Display in an Exhibit at the Baguio Museum

These traditional backpacks of the Igorots are called the "dagi" (also sometimes pronounced as "chagi/chagee/shagi"). In the olden days, it was a very common transport backpack for the Ibaloys of Benguet. These were usually used for transporting agricultural goods like rice, fruits, meat, and vegetables. It's often the chosen backpack when Igorots traveled to the lowlands to sell or trade goods. 

The "dagi" has two shoulder straps. It has a third strap that goes over the forehead of the carrier. This head-strap is very similar to the head-strap in the "kayabang". 

The bottom part of the pack has extended poles from the pack's rattan main frame. This enables the carrier to sit down with ease and rest while keeping the pack upright.

These are currently on display at the Baguio Museum as part of the exhibit called 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙋𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨. 

The exhibit opened on December 13. It will run until January 6, 2026. Go see the exhibit and learn more of the ingenuity and craftmanship of our people.