At Kamuning Bakery, financial insight is served with warmth and a side of pandesal.
This was the scene when financial adviser Chinkee Tan recently opened the 10th-anniversary speaker series of the Pandesal Forum at Kamuning Bakery Café in Quezon City.
Chinkee’s advice, delivered in his signature practical style, echoed lessons often overlooked in a country still vulnerable to get-rich-quick schemes and financial misinformation.
His message was simple: Don’t risk what you can’t afford to lose.
While not new, the reminder is crucial in an age where investment scams flourish both online and offline. In the Philippines, where many are just one medical emergency or job loss away from hardship, separating essential funds from risk capital is more urgent than ever.
He also cautioned against investing in things you don’t understand—a warning that resonates at a time when social media influencers and self-proclaimed “financial coaches” promote complex trading schemes and crypto investments with little transparency or regulation.
“If an investment can’t be explained in plain language, or if you can’t explain it yourself, you probably shouldn’t put money into it,” Chinkee stated.
His bluntest reminder? There’s no such thing as a guaranteed high return.
“If banks and licensed institutions can’t offer double-digit interest rates without risk, why would an unlicensed outfit? Though even if you’re the smartest person in the room, pwede ka maloko,” he said. “So, manage your greed.”
His appearance marked a fitting start to the Pandesal Forum’s year-long anniversary celebration. Since 2015, this civic initiative—hosted by Kamuning Bakery Café—has earned a reputation for convening speakers across the political spectrum, from then-Vice President Jejomar Binay to then-Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., fostering unfiltered dialogue over freshly baked pandesal and coffee.
The 86-year-old bakery, one of Metro Manila’s last to use traditional wood-fired ovens, has become more than a culinary landmark. Under writer-entrepreneur Wilson Lee Flores’ stewardship, it has evolved into a cultural hub where ideas ferment as slowly and richly as its signature bread.
Since its inception, Pandesal Forum has become a space where intellectual and civic engagement is encouraged.
“For 10 years, the Pandesal Forum has been a space where ideas rise like dough—slow, steady, and transformative. We welcome thinkers, doers, and dreamers because progress begins with dialogue,” Flores remarked.
All Pandesal Forum events are held at the historic Kamuning Bakery Cafe located on Judge Jimenez St. in Quezon City. Media and intellectuals enjoy the bakery’s legendary wood-fired pandesal while engaging with the country’s most compelling voices.
