MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 8) ABS-CBN broadcaster Ted Failon was brought to Camp Caringal in Quezon City at midnight Thursday for questioning over indications that he might have obstructed police investigation and tampered with evidence in his wife’s shooting earlier in the day.

Superintendent Gerardo Ratuita of the Quezon City Police District told reporters that after investigators had talked to Failon’s lawyers, the broadcaster agreed to go to the police headquarters and give his side on the incident that happened inside his house, where his wife, Trinidad Arteche Etong, was found with a gunshot wound on the head.

Senior Superintendent Franklin Moises Mabanag said that Failon was set to be arrested for obstruction of justice.

But policemen later told reporters that Failon was just being invited for questioning and should give his statement at police headquarters in accordance with standard operating procedures.

Mabanag said they were also studying the possibility of detaining Failon. "Titignan pa namin kung idedetain siya [Failon] [We will see if there's a need to detain him]," he said.

Police are investigating two angles – suicide and foul play.

A letter believed to be the suicide note of the broadcaster’s wife was found inside Failon’s house.

She was believed to have shot herself inside the bathroom, where Failon’s gun was found.

But the house help was reported to have cleaned the bathroom by the time police got to Failon’s house.

Police said they were not yet ruling the shooting of Failon's wife a suicide despite the discovery of the letter.

Mabanag quoted the New Era Hospital as saying that Failon's wife, 44, was brain dead.

Mabanag said: “We cannot declare yet at this time that the wound if self-inflicted in the absence of official report from the SOCO [Scene of Crime Operatives].” He also said it had not been established if Failon was involved in the shooting.

SOCO investigators questioned Failon in his home early Wednesday evening.

ABS-CBN, the network Failon is connected with, confirmed that his wife was “fighting for her life” and issued an appeal “to please respect the privacy of Ted and his family.”

Mabanag said initial investigation revealed that Failon's wife was brought to the New Era Hospital by the couple's driver, identified only as Glen, her sister, Pamela, and another man, believed to be Failon, before noon for treatment of a gunshot wound in the head.

Mabanag said Failon told investigators that he and his wife had an argument Tuesday night but that they had settled their differences the next morning.

Failon left for his daily morning radio talk show at ABS-CBN but left the station before his program ended and was back at his house around 10:20 a.m., Mabanag said.

An official statement from Failon, which was faxed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) by ABS-CBN said: “Hindi ko na tinapos and aking programa sa dzMM kaninang umaga matapos kong makausap and aking asawa sa telepono. Kaya umuwi ako kaagad at natagpuan kong nakakandado ang pinto ng banyo. Pinabuksan ko ang pinto at natagpuan ko ang aking asawa na duguan kung kaya’t itinakbo ko siya kaagad sa ospital [I did not finish my program at dzMM this morning after I spoke to my wife. So I went home immediately and found the door of the bathroom locked. I had the door opened and I found my wife bloody which is why I rushed her immediately to the hospital.”

Quoting the hospital’s description of the gunshot wound, Mabanag said the bullet entered Etong’s head through the left temple and exited through the right.

Mabanag said the incident was apparently not reported immediately.

He also said that when they called New Era, the hospital denied they had a patient named Trinidad Etong.

It was only when police went there that the hospital confirmed that Etong was confined at its intensive care unit.

Mabanag said that, on reaching Failon’s house, they discovered that the scene of the incident had been cleaned by the household helpers, which he said constituted a violation of Presidential Decree 1829, or obstruction of justice.

The household helpers, Glen and Frida, claimed that no one had ordered them to clean the area, Mabanag said.

Investigators also recovered the letter allegedly written by Trinidad inside the room of the couple’s daughter.

It partly said, “Papa, I’m so sorry, gusto kong magsabi ng totoo pero hindi ko alam kung paano umpisahan. Natatakot ako kaya umalis ako [I want to tell the truth but I don’t know how to start. I was afraid that is why I left]…Sorry, sorry, Mama.”

Asked why they were not ruling the incident a suicide, Mabanag cited “inconsistencies in the statements” of Failon.

Mabanag also noted that, although the entry wound was on the victim’s left temple, the .38 caliber pistol she was shot with was on her right side.

The weapon was licensed but was not covered by a permit to carry, Mabanag said.

He said everyone in the house, including a still unidentified male, would be subjected to paraffin tests, Mabanag said.

Bonifacio Geroche, head of the Tierra Pura security, said they were not informed about the shooting and only found out about it when the police arrived at around 4 p.m.

A witness told the Inquirer that he saw Failon leaving the hospital emergency room around 1 p.m. in a bloodied polo shirt and wearing a surgical mask to avoid identification by policemen and reporters posted outside.

He then left on a blue Pajero with plate number NPE-293.

The gardener of a neighbor of Failon's said that before noon, he saw the broadcaster in a bloodied shirt as he was about to board the Pajero in his garage with another woman crying. But he did not see Failon’s wife.

He said he did not hear any gunshots coming from Failon's concrete house with glass windows and landscaped yard.

Police investigators were only able to interview witnesses in the hospital and got the address of Failon at around 4 p.m., more than five hours after the shooting took place.

They also said the Pajero was cleaned and newly washed.