Financial coach, best-selling author and radio and TV host Chinkee Tan opened the 10th anniversary speaker series of the Pandesal Forum at the Kamuning Bakery Café last Saturday with a call for Filipinos to take control of their financial future.
Speaking on the topic “Financial Independence, Money Tips, and Success Strategies,” Tan shared how his difficult childhood in Tondo shaped his drive to educate others.
“I can still remember when I was twelve years old, luging-lugi ang negosyo ng tatay ko. Naputulan kami ng kuryente. One week kaming walang ilaw,” he said. “Sa school, wala akong baon, kaya umiinom lang ako ng maraming tubig sa CR para mabusog. Mahirap maging mahirap.”
Tan, who has authored 18 bestsellers and hosts Radyo5’s Chink Positive, emphasized the importance of financial literacy, discipline, and mindset in breaking the cycle of poverty.
“Ang mahalaga ay kung saan ka patungo, hindi kung saan ka galing,” he told the audience.
He also warned against lifestyle inflation, which he said often goes unnoticed.
“Inflation is beyond our control. But lifestyle inflation? That’s on us. Ang sweldo mo dati, maliit, nagkakasya. Pero ngayon, mas malaki na, bakit parang kulang pa rin? Kasi gumagastos ka na rin nang malaki.”
For Tan, the lack of financial know-how remains one of the biggest causes of money problems.
“Kung wala kang alam, mauubos ang pera mo. Pero kahit wala kang pera, kung may alam ka, makakabangon ka.”
Asked about practical financial options, he recommended government and digital savings tools and real estate as sound investments.
Chinkee also cited three actors — Aga Muhlach, Richard Gomez and Coco Martin — as examples of celebrities who have maintained financial discipline.
Aga, whom he calls “Morning,” is a friend and contemporary from his early years in showbiz. Tan recalled working with him on TV shows like the sitcom “Four the Boys,” and shared how Aga overcame early financial struggles.
“Nung una, parati siyang ubos. He was really spending. Na-bankrupt ‘yun,” Chinkee related. “Tapos nung natuto na siya, nung kumikita na siya, ang unang investment niya: lupa. He bought properties. Ang second investment, franchise. And then, ang isang third hindi alam ng tao. Kolektor ‘yan ng paintings. Sobrang dami.
“And nung nag-expand siya ng business, he expanded based on his core competence — production. Aga [starred and] co-produced ‘Miracle at Cell Number 7.’ You know how much money it made? Ang laki ng kinikita ‘nun. That movie is more than enough to really set him for life. So marunong talaga siya.”
As for Richard Gomez:
“Si Richard, very wise and shrewd. Magaling mag-invest. Sa property naman siya lumaki.”
Tan also praised Coco Martin’s financial savvy.
“Sobrang galing, kasi aside from his cash cow, ‘yung ‘Batang Quiapo’ and prior to that, ‘Probinsyano,’ ‘di ba? So imagine mo, he rose from being an extra to an actor, tapos ngayon, co-producer na siya and director. Right now may business siya, ‘yung Bida Dishwashing Liquid.”
The session is the first in a year-long lineup of thought leaders invited to mark the Pandesal Forum’s 10th year. Founded in 2015 by Wilson Lee Flores at the 86-year-old Kamuning Bakery Café, the Pandesal Forum’s name was coined by Senator Grace Poe, who attended one of the early sessions organized by the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) and moderated by Flores.
Up next in the anniversary series is novelist and professor Danton Remoto, who will speak on June 21 at 1 p.m. on “Writing Fiction & How to Get Accepted by a Global Publisher.”
