Jump to content

Willie Ong

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Scottish-American professional golfer, seeWillie Ogg.

In thisPhilippine name,themiddle nameor maternalfamily nameisTanand the surname or paternal family name isOng.
In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisCo ( hứa ).
Willie Ong
Hứa vĩ lợi
Ong in 2018
Born
Willie Tan Ong

(1963-10-24)October 24, 1963(age 60)[1]
Tondo, Manila,Philippines
NationalityFilipino
Alma materUniversity of the Philippines Diliman(BS)
De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute(M.D)
University of the Philippines Manila(M.P.H)
Occupations
  • Cardiologist
  • Internist
  • Writer
  • Vlogger
Political partyAksyon Demokratiko(2021–present)
Lakas–CMD(2018–2021)
Spouse
Anna Liza Ramoso
​
(m.1993)​
Children2
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2007–present
GenreInformativevlogging
Subscribers9.5 million[2]
Total views1.442 billion[2]
Associated actsLiza Ramoso-Ong
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated:June 7, 2024

Willie Tan Ong(Chinese:HứaVĩLợi;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Khó͘ Úi-lī;pinyin:Xǔ Wěilì;[3]born October 24, 1963) is a Filipinocardiologist,internistand media personality who rose to prominence for giving medical advice through hisFacebookpage andYouTubechannel. Ong was also a candidate for the2019 Philippine Senate election,largely capitalizing on his social media presence. He was a candidate forvice presidentin the2022 Philippine presidential electionas the running mate of formermayor of ManilaIsko Moreno.

Early life and education[edit]

Ong was born inManilaon October 24, 1963. His father, Ong Yong, was an immigrant fromJinjiang,Chinawho settled in the Philippines in 1922. Better known as Co Tec Tai ( hứa trạch đài ) in theChinese Filipinocommunity,[3]the elder Ong was an active charity worker who served as president for various civic organizations.[4]

For his elementary and high school education, Ong attendedXavier SchoolinSan Juan, Metro Manila.He studiedbotanyat theUniversity of the Philippines Diliman[1]and then earned his medical degree at theDe La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute,which was then the College of Medicine ofDe La Salle University,in 1992.[4]

Medical career[edit]

Ong completed hisresidencyininternal medicineatManila Doctors Hospital,where he was the chief resident. He then completed hisfellowshipincardiologyat thePhilippine General Hospital,where he was the chief fellow. He also achieved the award for the highest academic performance when he earned hisMasters in Public Healthat theUniversity of the Philippines Manila.[5]

Ong has also authored books. His first publication is theMedicine Blue Bookwhich is often used by Filipino medical students and neophyte doctors. He also wrote theCardiology Blue Book,which is a guidebook for diagnosis and treatment of heart conditions.[6]

He has also worked as a consultant with theDepartment of Healthfrom 2010 to 2014.[6]Ong also established the Co Tec Tai Medical Museum inPasay,named in honor of his father and reportedly the first medical museum in the Philippines.[4]The museum documents the history of healthcare in the Philippines.

Television, radio and journalism[edit]

In 2005, Ong became part ofRJTVwhere he produced his own television show.[7]From 2008 to 2018, he made appearances onABS-CBN'sSalamat Dok.He did not have a regular segment on the television show and only participated as a volunteer. He leftSalamat Dokin October 2018 to pursue an electoral bid for the Senate in 2019.[8][7]Ong also wrote forThe Philippine Starand its sister publications,Pilipino Star NgayonandPM PangMasaas a columnist.[6]

Ong was also a resident doctor and host atDZRH's public service programDocs on Callfrom 2009 to 2017.[9]

Social media presence[edit]

Ong started maintaining an online presence when he set up aYouTubechannel in 2007, where he posts videos providing health tips and medical explainers targeted to a general audience.[8]As of November 2023, his YouTube channel "Doc Willie Ong" has 9.04 million subscribers, and is the 15th most subscribed YouTube channel in the Philippines.[10]

According to Ong, he established his presence in Facebook in 2013 after he confronted an impersonator who created a Facebook page using his name and reposted his medical columns and newspaper articles. The impersonator handed control of the page to the real Ong, and met with him every week to help grow his Facebook presence while Ong continued to write original content for the page.[7]Ong is currently the 10th most followed Filipino personality on Facebook, with 17 million Facebook followers as of November 2023.[11]

Political career[edit]

2019 Senate bid[edit]

Ong launched a bid to get elected as aSenatorin the2019 Philippine elections.[12]His electoral campaign had a focus on health issues, particularly on providing a "holistic approach to providing total health care", leveraging on him being the "only doctor running for the Senate". Had he won, he would be the fifth physician to be elected in the Congress' upper house preceding Juan Nolasco (1931–1935),Jose Locsin(1954–1957),Juan Flavier(1995–2007) andLuisa Ejercito Estrada(2001–2007).[13]Outside of health issues, Ong also expressed openness for the introduction ofdeath penaltyfor heinous crimes, the lowering of theminimum age of criminal responsibility,and the adoption offederalism as the form of government for the Philippines.[14]

Running on the banner of theLakas–CMDpolitical party, Ong said he did not rely on campaign donations to "avoid being indebted to anyone". Instead he relied on his online presence onFacebookandYouTubewhere he has 9.7 million followers and 1 million subscribers respectively as of March 2019.[13]His campaign was also backed by 23 other pages with over 800 thousand followers and 28 groups with about 87.6 thousand members in Facebook. According to Ong's wife, some of these presence were managed byOverseas Filipino Workers(OFWs) who volunteered to support Willie Ong's campaign. Ong was also backed by other social media pages which supported other candidates backed by PresidentRodrigo Duterte's administration such asImee MarcosandBong Go.[8]

Ong also supported the Anakalusugan Party-list'selection bid,by featuring for two seconds in an advertisement supporting the organization.[8]

He failed to win one of the 12 contested seats in the Senate, finishing 18th in the polls with 7.5 million votes. According to his wife, they spent around₱500,000on his personal campaign. Counting only votes by OFWs, Ong ranked second behindBato dela Rosa.[8]

2022 vice presidential campaign[edit]

Dr. Willie Ong (left) and Manila mayorIsko Morenofiling their certificates of candidacy for vice president and president respectively.

On September 21, 2021, it was announced that he will run forvice presidentin2022as therunning mateofManila mayorIsko Moreno.[15]Ong left Lakas–CMD a day later after his announcement to run for vice president.[16]He joined Moreno's political party,Aksyon Demokratiko,on September 25.[17]On May 9, 2022, Ong lost in his bid toSara Duterteplacing fourth out of nine candidates. Ong conceded to Duterte on May 11.[18]

Personal life[edit]

Ong is married to Anna Liza Ramoso, who is also a physician.[1][6]They first met each other in 1992 while Ong was working as an intern atSan Juan De Dios Hospitaland married a year later.[9]They have two daughters.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^abc"ONG, Willie Eleksyon 2019".GMA News Online.RetrievedDecember 5,2020.
  2. ^ab"About Doc Willie Ong".YouTube.
  3. ^ab"Hứa vĩ lợi ( DR. WILLIE ONG ) y học bác sĩ vinh hoạch bổn niên độ quang khải học giáo mô phạm giáo hữu tưởng"[Dr. Willie Ong, M.D. receives this year's K Laser School Exemplary Alumni Award].Chinese Commercial News(in Chinese). March 22, 2013.RetrievedDecember 22,2021.
  4. ^abcTacio, Henrylito (October 8, 2012)."Pasay medical museum shows how epidemics shaped history".GMA News Online.RetrievedSeptember 5,2021.
  5. ^"VotePH 2022 - Our Vote, Our Future: Willie Ong".Inquirer.net.RetrievedJune 27,2024.
  6. ^abcdeFlores, Helen M. (July 21, 2019)."Willie Ong: The doctor is 'in'".The Philippine Star.RetrievedSeptember 6,2021.
  7. ^abc""We should uplift the conversation. Should I change myself in order to please them to get the votes?" -Dr. Willie Ong, Senatorial Candidate ".Esquiremag.ph.RetrievedSeptember 5,2021.
  8. ^abcde"Almost victory: Doc Willie Ong's OFW votes, social media support".Rappler.May 31, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 5,2021.
  9. ^abTacio, Henrylito D. (August 3, 2018)."Game Changer: Meet the Doctor of the Masses".Edge Davao.RetrievedSeptember 18,2021.
  10. ^"Doc Willie Ong's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile)".SocialBlade.
  11. ^"Philippines: most followed Filipino celebrities on Facebook 2022".Statista.RetrievedNovember 25,2023.
  12. ^Orellana, Cathrine Gonzales, Faye (October 11, 2018)."Dr. Willie Ong files COC for Senate bid".INQUIRER.net.RetrievedSeptember 5,2021.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^abOng, Ghio (March 16, 2019)."Doc Willie: Health sector needs voice in Senate".The Philippine Star.RetrievedSeptember 6,2021.
  14. ^"PROFILE: Who is Doc Willie Ong?".Rappler.Archived fromthe originalon September 6, 2021.RetrievedSeptember 6,2021.
  15. ^Ranada, Pia (September 21, 2021)."Isko Moreno to run for president in 2022".Rappler.Manila, Philippines.RetrievedSeptember 21,2021.
  16. ^Mercado, Neil Arwin (September 23, 2021)."After announcing to run for VP, Willie Ong bolts Lakas-CMD".Philippine Daily Inquirer.Archived fromthe originalon September 23, 2021.RetrievedSeptember 23,2021.
  17. ^Mendoza, John Eric (September 25, 2021)."Doc Willie Ong takes oath as Aksyon Demokratiko member".Philippine Daily Inquirer.Archived fromthe originalon September 25, 2021.RetrievedSeptember 25,2021.
  18. ^Ramos, Jaleen (May 11, 2022)."Doc Willie Ong wishes BBM, Sara success as he concedes defeat".Manila Bulletin.RetrievedJuly 2,2022.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Willie_Ong&oldid=1231307904"