Failon’s daughter believes mom tried to commit suicide

MANILA, Philippines – The daughter of television news anchor Ted Failon (Teodoro Etong) on Thursday said she believes her mother Trinidad tried to commit suicide, and that her father is innocent. "It was a self-inflicted incident. My mother tried to commit suicide by shooting herself in the head," Kaye Etong said in an interview on dzMM radio. She added that rumor insinuating that her father did the crime is stupid. "Isa po itong malaking kalokohan na pagbintangan si Papa na isang suspect…Wala po siya roon. Hindi ba dapat innocent until proven guilty? Hindi po ako naniniwala na suspect ang tatay ko," Kaye said. [That my father wanted to kill my mother is a stupid idea. My father was not in our house when the shooting happened. Isn’t he supposed to be innocent until proven guilty?] Kaye also said that she believes her father’s statement saying that when he arrived home from his radio program on dzMM, he saw his bloodied wife lying on the bathroom floor. "Hindi ko tinapos ang aking programa sa dzMM kaninang umaga matapos kong makausap ang 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 tinakbo ko siya agad sa hospital," Failon said in a statement Wednesday. [I didn't finish my program on dzMM this morning after I talked to my wife over the phone. I went home at once and I found that the bathroom door was locked. I had the door opened and I found my bloodied wife thus I rushed her to the hospital.] Kaye also said she is not discounting the possibility that her mother might have committed suicide, especially after she saw the letter supposedly written by Trinidad Tuesday night. "I know my mother’s handwriting. Noon nakita ko yung sulat, alam ko po na yun ang sulat ni Mama [When I saw the letter, I knew that it was she who wrote it]," Kaye said. The note supposedly written by Trinidad read: "Papa, I’m so sorry. Gustung-gusto ko ang magsabi sa iyo ng totoo pero hindi ko po alam kung paano uumpisahan. Sobrang takut na takot ako. Umalis muna ako, kasi hindi ko kaya at nahihiya akong humarap sa iyo. Sana po mapatawad mo ako, papa. Sorry, sorry papa – Mama," read the note that was reportedly written by Failon's wife. [Papa, I’m so sorry. I really want to tell you the truth but I don’t know where to start. I am so scared. I left home because I cannot take it anymore and I don’t think I can face you. I hope you can forgive me, papa. Sorry, sorry papa – Mama.] In the radio interview, Kaye appealed to the public to respect their family’s privacy. She also lamented that the incident has turned into a “spectacle" even as she said that she was expecting it because her father is a public figure. "Isa itong napakasakit na tragedy na ginagawa nilang spectacle. Kahit sa sinong pamilya, pwedeng mangyari to. Pero ang pinakasakit na nangyari sa amin ay nanamagnify po yung nagyari sa amin kasi kilala si Papa," she said. [This is a big tragedy that has turned into a spectacle. The incident could happen to any family, but what hurts me is that this is magnified because Papa is a known public figure.] - Sophia Dedace with Katrina Elaine Alba, GMANews.TV