This Gathering For Dad Entrepreneurs Wants To Change The Perception Of Pinoy Dads

The following story came straight from the first-ever Smart Parenting daddy editor-at-large, and the man behind the DadbudPH Facebook community, with over 55,000 member dads as of writing. 

Smart Parenting's advocacy, now more than ever, is to include dads in parenting conversations. We want to provide a judgment-free space where dads can voice out their unique points of view, whether majority agrees or not. Smart Parenting remains a platform that's  pro-parents, and that includes dads.

Hey buddy how are you doing?

This is a question we seldom hear from people, specially towards us dads. The world is tough, so we have to be tougher. The world is chaotic so we need to be quiet. Everyone thinks that we can just get by but no one really bothers to ask us how we are doing. This is a common dillema in today's society for us men, specially us dads.

Pag walang imik, walang pumapansin, walang problema, pero sa totoo lang, ok ka lang ba talaga? Buddy, hear me out, we are here for you and we all need to be strong together.

The world is changing so fast that it feels like keeping up is impossible. Times are different and opportunities have changed for everyone. Making ends meet is pretty much the only thing in our heads for the past few years, ever since we became dads. Pag daddy ka na, nasa puso mo ang pamilya mo at nasa isip mo magdamag ang kalagayan ng buhay ninyo. Real talk lang dahil finance, business and survival are things that really keeps us awake at night. 

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When I started Dadbudph in 2019, it was really just for information and entertainment. Nakaka-aliw na makakita ng kwento ng ibang katulad ko na newbie dad at makahingi ng advise sa mga experienced na sa pagiging tatay. Then 2020 happened, the pandemic really shook our lives and it changed the way we are as human beings, specially us parents and dads who had the role of taking care of our families.

Kagulo, nakaka-baliw. Talagang Wow, is this for real? Daming nawalan ng trabaho at natutong mabuhay for survival but good thing we had our community to back us up during those dark days and until today.

'Little by little we are balancing the conversation and putting more sense and value to what we as dads can bring to the table.' - Joey Ong

We evolved, for most of us and we made changes in the way we live, the way we survive, but as the days went by, it feels like it was not enough and we need some extra push. Dadbud changed from being just a place of enjoyment to a venue where we had the chance to empower and enable one another. We connected and reached out for emotional support from one another and this was the most beautiful thing for me, dahil kitang-kita mo ang totoong bayanihan na talagang nakakatulong sa kapwa nating dads. We had something good going and this allowed us to grow to our number today of 55,000 Dadbuds. #flexlang

In 2022, I had the chance to be part of a program from Meta or Facebook that aims to acccelerate communities and luckily, I was chosen to share our story to the people from Meta Global. Nakakatuwa dahil Dadbud lang ang nag-iisang dad community in the world. Galeng diba? Pero para itong school and I had to come up with a project that will do something good for our community and also our society and this inspired me to dig deeper into what my community needed and what is the most beneficial program for us dads.

In the end, it all boiled down to survival and financial empowerment. Every time I would read on problems that families face, the root of it is really financial or earning opportunities. Kailangan talaga kumita ng pera at hindi ito madali, actually mas lalo pang nagiging mahirap. We do not have the resources to help everyone with their financial problems but we do have the capability to inspire, engage and empower. This is the power of a community.

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The idea of launching a Dadbud Academy program came to mind and it consisted of a series of Dad Talks to inspire, a Dadfest to engage, and the Dadbud Academy to educate and empower. We launched the Dad Talk last April and it served as a build up to the first ever Dadfest happening this June 10 and 11 in Greenfield District Mandaluyong.

Dadfest is a gathering of Food Dadpreneurs from our Dadbud community whom we  carefully selected. 16 vendors will be showcasing their small business to the public and will be the first batch of our Dadpreneurs to join the a program led by Kalye Negosyo, an Entrepreneur Mentorship program led by Jorge Wieneke in partnership with DTI. 

Seryoso diba? Pero ganyan talaga ang goal natin sa community, to give our dads the opportunity that we don’t have yet in our society. Napakabago ng concept ng Dad Empowerment or even Dadpreneur as if alam na natin lahat, pero sa totoo, no one just really bothered to ask or to take a deeper look at the situation. No one had the chance to listen and do something about it.

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This is why this years Father’s Day is extra special for us, we are not just celebrating it but we are taking this opportunity to launch something good. A great chance for us to learn, to connect, and also to have fun with everyone’s company.

Dadfest is the first ever celebration of this scale for our community that is open to everyone, our families, friends and even those who are not yet parents. Aside from the Dadpreneur vendors, we have also gathered some performances from dads and their children during the two-day festival. So you can really expect some wholesome fun and that's inspiring, plus the amazing food that our Dadbuds will be selling.

We are constantly evolving and improving as a community and we are continously changing the way dads are seen in our society. Little by little we are balancing the conversation and putting more sense and value to what we as dads can bring to the table. Dadfest is a celebration of our potential to really make big changes in the world and this started with us asking one another, “Kamusta ka bud?”

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