The week in photos: December 13-19, 2025

MANILA, Philippines – Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral was found unconscious near Bued River along Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet, and was later declared dead at 12:03 am on December 19.

Cabral resigned from the DPWH last September after she was implicated in alleged anomalous budget insertions that enabled anomalous flood control contracts. Another undersecretary claimed that Cabral, along with the DPWH secretaries she served — Mark Villar and Manuel Bonoan — operated a kickback system in contracts awarded or implemented by the department.

On December 18, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced in a video message that a local court has issued a warrant of arrest against embattled contractor Sarah Discaya and others over a P96-million ghost project in Davao Occidental. Hours later, the National Bureau of Investigation arrested the embattled contractor.

Meanwhile, the bicameral conference committee approved P243 billion in unprogrammed appropriations for 2026 on December 18. The bicam adopted the House version, which is more than three times larger than the Senate’s approved P68.77-billion allocation for the UA. Under the National Expenditure Program, the Department of Budget and Management initially proposed P249.9 billion for unprogrammed appropriations.

Catch more stories in these photos from the week that was

Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives huddle before they convene for the bicameral conference committee meeting on the proposed 2026 General Appropriations Act at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on December 13, 2025. PHOTO FROM SENATE SOCIAL MEDIA UNIT

A girl runs between supplies at Wat Por Sovannaram refugee camp, amid clashes between Thailand and Cambodia along a disputed border area in Ou Chrov district, Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia, on December 13, 2025. PHOTO BY KIM HONG-JI/REUTERS

Parishioners of San Felipe Neri Parish venerate the relics (pericardium, the membrane surrounding and protecting the heart) of Saint Carlo Acutis in Mandaluyong City on December 14, 2025. PHOTO BY RAPPLER

Workers carry a crucifix inside Saint Peter’s Basilica ahead of the Mass for the Jubilee of Prisoners at the Vatican on December 14, 2025. PHOTO BY REMO CASILLI/REUTERS

People take part in a half-naked Santa run in Budapest, Hungary, on December 14, 2025. PHOTO BY BERNADETT SZABO/REUTERS

An ‘America studies is at stake’ sign is attached to a pole at the site of Saturday’s mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, on December 14, 2025. PHOTO BY MARIA ALEJANDRACARDONA/REUTERS

Philippines’ Jasmine Althea Ramilo shows her form during the women’s individual rhythmic gymnastics qualification of the Southeast Asian Games, at Gymnasium 5, Thammasat University Rangsit Campus, Pathum Thani, Thailand, on December 15, 2025. PHOTO BY CHALINEE THIRASUPA/REUTERS

Flowers and a note reading ‘rip meathead’ are placed at Rob Reiner’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after the actor-director and political activist and his wife were found dead, in Los Angeles, California, on December 15, 2025. PHOTO BY DANIEL COLE/REUTERS

Tom Kenny reacts next to SpongeBob SquarePants during a ceremony to celebrate the release of the film ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants’, in the forecourt of the TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, on December 16, 2025. PHOTO BY MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS

EJ Obiena of the Philippines clears the pole during the men’s pole vault final of Southeast Asian Games at Suphachalasai National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand, on December 16, 2025. PHOTO BY JEREMY LEE/REUTERS

Grandparents of 10 year-old Matilda, who was killed during a mass shooting targeting a Hanukkah celebration on December 14, grieve at the floral memorial to honor the victims of the mass shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, on December 16, 2025. PHOTO BY JEREMY PIPER/REUTERS

US President Donald Trump participates in a dignified transfer of the remains of two Iowa National Guard members killed in Syria, Sgt. Edgar Torres Tovar and Sgt. William Howard, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, who was working as an interpreter in Syria, at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on December, 17, 2025. PHOTO BY NATHAN HOWARD/REUTERS

A dead sea turtle is displayed on the ground during a protest against pollution caused by chemical emissions from the state-owned Tunisian Chemical Group’s phosphate complex in Gabes, Tunisia, on December 17, 2025. PHOTO BY KHALED NASRAOUI/REUTERS

A group of students prepare their entry before the start of the traditional lantern parade at the academic oval at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, on December 17, 2025. PHOTO BY JIRE CARREON/RAPPLER

A protester walks next to burning tyres on a square near the European Parliament as farmers protest against the EU-Mercosur free-trade deal between the European Union and the South American countries of Mercosur, on the day of a European Union leaders’ summit, in Brussels, Belgium, on December 18, 2025. PHOTO BY YVES HERMAN/REUTERS

National Bureau of Investigation personnel escort government contractor Sarah Discaya upon her arrival at Mactan-Cebu International Airport on December 19, 2025. Discaya is facing a malversation case involving a P96-million alleged ghost project in Davao Occidental. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE HERNANDEZ/RAPPLER

Local cops inspect the spot where former DPWH undersecretary Cathy Cabral fell to her death in Sitio Marammal, Barangay Camp 4, Tuba, Benguet, on December 19, 2025. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Gilas Pilipinas’ France Mae Cabinbin and Janine Pontejos celebrate after winning the gold in Southeast Asian Games women’s 5-on-5 basketball final at Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 19, 2025. PHOTO BY CHALINEE THIRASUPA/REUTERS

A group of people set fire to the Prothom Alo newspaper office in Karwan Bazar, following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, a student leader who had been receiving treatment in Singapore after being shot in the head, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on December 19, 2025. PHOTO BY MEHEDI HASAN/REUTERS

– with reports from Reuters/Rappler.com