(Video, Transcript) Radio interview with Manila bus hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza

The role that media played is now at the center of the investigation of the Manila bus hostage-taking last August 23. The main question: Is the media partly to blame for the hostage-taker’s rampage that killed nine Chinese tourists from Hong Kong?

We all saw how the media scrambled to outdo each other on that fateful day. One local Philippine radio station — Radyo Mo Nationwide (RMN) — successfully managed to interview Rolando Mendoza minutes prior to the killings.

Listen to the radio interview and decide whether the media contributed to the tragic ending of this hostage incident.

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Highest paid TV stars in the US

No wonder a lot of kids want to be TV celebrities when they grow up. A Yahoo! article shows that several US TV stars are indeed paid a lot.

Leading the pack is perennial top-paid talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who earns $315 million per year for her The Oprah Winfrey Show.

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Citibank scandal: Did Francis Bryan Ang steal the money or not?

Last week, Citibank Philippines reported that one of its private banking officers have gone missing and allegedly carted with him hundreds of millions of pesos worth of depositors’ money.

Francis Bryan Ang, an Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Citibank Binondo’s Citigold Wealth Management Group, is said to have stolen at least P100 million of his clients’ money. Another news report place the total amount allegedly stolen between P600 million and P1 billion.

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(Video) Manila Philippines bus hostage taking

Manila, Philippines (August 23, 2010; 11:55 p.m.) – Here are some gripping videos of the hostage taking on a Chinese tourist bus in Manila, Philippines.

The hostage crisis ended tragically after a SWAT team assaulted a bus full of mostly Chinese tourists from Hong Kong, resulting in the death of the hostage taker and nine (9) hostages.

Additional Story: Video & Transcript of Radio interview with Manila bus hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza

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How to trade stocks in the Philippines

The Philippine stock market seems to be on a bullish trend again.

As of August 2010, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) is up 20% year-to-date, that is, from January to August 2010. It may not be as high as the 2009 PSE performance of 63% full-year return, but it is a strong sign that things are looking up.

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Salaries and bonuses of top execs in Philippine banks

Among publicly-listed Philippine banks, top executives of UnionBank of the Philippines (UBP) received the highest salary and bonuses in 2009, while top executives of Banco de Oro (BDO) and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) follow next.

This is based on an analysis of annual reports for the year 2009 submitted by local banks to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). The reports do not show the individual salaries and bonuses of each executive, but presents the lumped compensation of the banks’ top officials. The number of executives receiving the compensation was shown, thus, the average figure was derived.

An analysis of executive compensation shows that on average, the salary of the top 5 officers of UnionBank of the Philippines (UBP) was P17.03 million each, plus additional compensation and bonuses of P4.3 million each — for a total of P21.28 million compensation for each of the top 5 executives in 2009.

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