MANILA, Philippines—When it rains, it pours—and it’s pouring for broadcaster Ted Failon, whose wife succumbed to a gunshot wound in the head Thursday night even as he himself was charged with obstruction of justice.

Failon’s wife of 25 years, Trinidad Etong, 44, died at 8:50 p.m. in the intensive care unit of New Era General Hospital in Quezon City, where she was brought after a bullet was fired to her temple on Wednesday.

Failon said his wife had attempted to kill herself.

Dr. Adonis Gascon said the cause of death was “penetrating head injury secondary to gunshot wound and multiple organ failure.”

Doctors tried to revive her for 15 minutes by applying electric shocks, he said.

Failon and his two daughters were asked whether the doctors should continue with the emergency procedure, and they agreed to have it terminated upon seeing that the patient had “flat-lined,” Gascon said.

Gascon said the family broke down and wept. An hour later, Failon appeared calm, but the daughters remained inconsolable, the doctor said.

Earlier, at around 8:15 p.m., Delfin Lee, a friend of Failon’s, told reporters that doctors had started performing “emergency treatment” on Trina after a drop in her blood pressure.

“She took a turn for the worse at around 8:30 or earlier,” Gascon said.

Quiet, plain housewife

Etong’s death, Lee said, came as a shock.

“She’s the last person you would think would take her own life,” he said.

Lee described the deceased as a “quiet, plain housewife, very simple and low profile.”

As Ted earlier told him, Trina was educated as a nurse but she never got to practice.

They were “not demonstrative as a couple, hindi pa-cute,” said Lee, who said he has been friends with the Etongs for the last eight years.

“One thing I can attest to is that despite Ted’s bravado image, he is a doting father, responsible husband and a very good breadwinner.”

Dealer in health drinks

He said Ted had taught Trina to put up her own business to keep herself busy. She was able to put up a small venture—as a dealer of soya health drinks.

“From what I know, the couple had no major fight, until lately about finances,” Lee said. “I know for a fact that Ted entrusted his savings and salaries with Trina.”

Lee said friends often would teasingly ask Ted if he was still asking his wife for his daily allowance.

As a mother, Trina was “close to her daughters.”

In his view, the Etong daughters seemed closer to their mother than to their father “because she stayed at home.”

It was also Trina who personally supervised the construction of the Etongs’ house in Tierra Pura subdivision, he said.

Lee recalled last paying a visit to the Etongs during their house blessing last year.

Immigration watch list

Hours earlier, Failon was ordered placed on the Bureau of Immigration’s watch list purportedly at the request of one of his in-laws.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez issued the directive to Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, saying Failon was “under investigation for obstruction of justice in relation to the frustrated murder investigation of his wife.”

“This request for inclusion in the bureau’s watch list order is made pursuant to a request by a relative of the victim whose identity is confidential pending further investigation,” the directive read in part.

Libanan signed the order to put Failon on the watch list Thursday afternoon, according to bureau spokesperson Floro Balato.

If Failon attempts to leave the country, law enforcement or court authorities will have to be notified, Balato said.

Comatose

Gascon said earlier that Etong had been in very critical condition and had become “comatose.” Although her blood pressure had improved, she remained hooked to a ventilator.

Asked if Etong’s improving blood pressure indicated that the mother of two would survive, Gascon said: “With the kind of injury she has ... she suffered from a penetrating head injury... the chance is not zero but quite slim.

“The chance to be alive is less than 5 percent.”

Paraffin test

Supt. Franklin Moises Mabanag, head of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, returned to the hospital Thursday morning to conduct a paraffin test on Etong. He left after some 20 minutes without speaking to reporters.

Another police team attempted to conduct the test at 7 p.m. but doctors and Etong’s family blocked the examination, Lee said.

Security was tight at the hospital and reporters were barred from entering the premises.

Senior Insp. Roberto Razon said policemen had been assigned to secure the area and that Failon’s relatives were gathered outside the ICU where Etong was confined. With reports from Kristine Alave and Dona Z. Pazzibugan