Ted Failon drops by NBI office for closed-door meet

MANILA, Philippines – Veteran broadcaster Teodoro "Ted" Failon on Wednesday morning dropped by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters in Manila and held a closed-door meeting with its officials. Failon – who had been embroiled in a case of obstruction of justice for the death of his wife Trinidad Etong – came to the NBI office about 10 a.m. accompanied by three legal counsels. The ABS-CBN news anchor and his lawyers met with lawyer Edward Villarta, NBI regional director for the National Capital Region. Failon’s sister-in-law Pamela and members of the Failon household were not with him during the visit. They have likewise been charged by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) for obstruction of justice, when they allegedly "tampered" the crime scene and failed to report the shooting of Failon's wife. The NBI’s agenda for the day includes a joint examination of the cal-380 pistol used in the shooting, as well as the empty shells and slugs recovered from the bathroom, where a bloodied Trindad was found. Also, investigators are set to simulate the shooting by using a dummy, in order to know what exactly happened on the day of the shooting at the Failon residence in Tierra Pura Homes in Quezon City. Initial findings of the NBI showed that about 90 percent of Etong’s blood was spilled inside the bathroom, believed to be the crime scene. Police investigators arrived at the residence on the day of the shooting last April 15 with the bathroom already cleaned up. Investigators were only later able to detect the traces off blood by casting ultraviolet light all over the bathroom floors and walls. "Nagmamadali po kaming matapos ang imbestigasyon. Kaya nakikiusap kami sa lahat na aming dapat kausapin [We are trying to finish the investigation as soon as possible that's why we are talking with the persons we are supposed to talk to]," Diaz said in a separate radio interview. On Tuesday, the NBI held a joint conference with the QCPD’s medico legal team and scene of the crime operatives to compare notes on their respective investigations. "Maganda naman ang resulta ng pag-uusap namin… pinag-usapan namin ang punto na nagkasundo kami sa findings at punto na parang hindi kami nagkasundo," the NBI official said. [The result of our meeting was good. We talked about points of our respective findings that were the same and were different.] Diaz said "it won’t be too long" before they come up with their official findings and finally resolve the controversial case. He said the NBI would conduct a “re-interview" of several people – who he refused to identify as of this time – and stressed their agents would not be using lie detector exams for the Failon household. - GMANews.TV