Communities have become a safe space which allows each individual to grow and thrive. Whether it focuses on housing, food, fitness, or parenting, a community brings together like-minded people to share and uplift one another.
At a time when parent communities were dominated by moms, in came a new dad on the block which led to the birth of one of the country’s largest and most active dad communities on Facebook to date—DadBudPH.
At the helm is advertising entrepreneur and food content creator Joey Ong, who founded the community in 2019 when his wife was pregnant, initially as a way to seek counsel from more experienced dads.
“Back then, I didn’t know much about being a dad and there weren’t a lot of communities which brought dads together the way mom groups did,” he said. “DadBudPH became a platform to share personal experiences, get inspired, and really just spread the good vibes of fatherhood.”
Since then, DadBudPH has steadily grown and recently hit gold with over 50,000 members—an unprecedented 90% of which are highly engaged everyday. Fueled by dads and dad figures of various ages, socio-economic classes, and locations, the community brings to life topics related to fatherhood—parenting, family, homes, humor, entertainment, food, fitness, gadgets, pop culture, and more.
Last November 2022, DadBudPH earned international recognition by no less than Meta, a multinational technology conglomerate which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and more. It became the only parenting group in the Philippines to be invited to the coveted Facebook accelerator program which kicked off in Singapore as a thrust to help grow the community further.
A fresh new concept
To celebrate the golden milestone of over 50,000 members, Joey recently kicked off DadBud Academy, a program which brings dads together in a series of physical events to learn, enjoy, and be inspired for a better future. As parenting events are usually centered on or organized by moms, this is an untapped initiative and a novel way to honor and empower fathers year-round. The freshness and potential of this concept led to popular establishments pitching in to help expand its footprint.
The pilot event entitled “Dad Talks” was held at Robinsons Galleria’s Robinsons Movieworld and Playlab, where established dads shared their stories to inspire other dads. TV personality Kim Atienza, former seminarian Romulo Velasco, Filipino-American actor Troy Montero, “ausome” parenting dad Ron Ramos, Kalye Negosyo and Potato Corner founder Jorge Wieneke, and Emmanuel Manansala and Ed Embradora from LIV Ministries spoke to an audience of close to 200 dads and their families, giving them a glimpse of their personal journeys and how they became who they are today.
“This advocacy aims to let go of any stigma that dads are slackers, or corporate slaves or executives who are too busy for family. We can also be domesticated, entrepreneurial, and most importantly—the best husbands we can be to our wives and the best dads we can be to our children,” Joey said. “We have lots of exciting opportunities up ahead, with the end goal of supporting and honoring dads whose roles in the family are valuable and irreplaceable.”
The DadBud Academy will be rolling out fun-filled events in the coming weeks leading up to Father’s Day, which include with an immersive high-tech play session at Robinsons Galleria’s PlayLab, a deep dive into financial literacy for families, a food festival run by small-medium business (SME) dads, and more.
So stay tuned, dads! For those who haven’t yet, join the DadBudPH community on Facebook and—as they say—“be a buddy to your fellow daddy”.
