Willie Ong

Willie Tan Ong (; born October 24, 1963) is a Filipino cardiologist, internist and media personality who rose to prominence for giving medical advice through his Facebook page and YouTube channel. Ong was also a candidate for the 2019 Philippine Senate election, largely capitalizing on his social media presence. He was a candidate for vice president in the 2022 Philippine presidential election as the running mate of former mayor of Manila Isko Moreno.

Early life and education Ong was born in Manila on October 24, 1963. His father, Ong Yong, was an immigrant from Jinjiang, China who settled in the Philippines in 1922. Better known as Co Tec Tai (許澤台) in the Chinese Filipino community,

For his elementary and high school education, Ong attended Xavier School in San Juan, Metro Manila. He studied botany at the University of the Philippines Diliman

Ong has also authored books. His first publication is the Medicine Blue Book which is often used by Filipino medical students and neophyte doctors. He also wrote the Cardiology Blue Book, which is a guidebook for diagnosis and treatment of heart conditions.

He has also worked as a consultant with the Department of Health from 2010 to 2014. From 2008 to 2018, he made appearances on ABS-CBN's Salamat Dok. He did not have a regular segment on the television show and only participated as a volunteer. He left Salamat Dok in October 2018 to pursue an electoral bid for the Senate in 2019.

Social media presence Ong started maintaining an online presence when he set up a YouTube channel in 2007, where he posts videos providing health tips and medical explainers targeted to a general audience.

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.

Political career 2019 Senate bid

Ong launched a bid to get elected as a Senator in the 2019 Philippine elections. 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) and Luisa Ejercito Estrada (2001–2007). Outside of health issues, Ong also expressed openness for the introduction of death penalty for heinous crimes, the lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility, and the adoption of federalism as the form of government for the Philippines.

Running on the banner of the Lakas–CMD political party, Ong said he did not rely on campaign donations to "avoid being indebted to anyone". Instead he relied on his online presence on Facebook and YouTube where he has 9.7 million followers and 1 million subscribers respectively as of March 2019. Ong left Lakas–CMD a day later after his announcement to run for vice president. He joined Moreno's political party, Aksyon Demokratiko, on September 25. On May 9, 2022, Ong lost in his bid to Sara Duterte, placing fourth out of nine candidates. Ong conceded to Duterte on May 11.

2025 Senate bid Despite undergoing treatment for cancer in Singapore, Ong filed his certificate of candidacy for senator on October 3, 2024 for the 2025 Philippine elections through his wife, Anna Liza Ramoso. He said that he will not run a regular electoral campaign, stating that his senatorial campaign will be run with no funds and no connection with other political personalities in order for him to run "the cleanest way." On February 13, 2025, he announced his withdrawal of his candidacy to focus on his recovery. He later endorsed the candidacies of Bam Aquino and Imee Marcos for senator, both of whom later won the race.

Personal life Ong is married to Anna Liza Ramoso, who is also a physician. He was also diagnosed with neutropenic sepsis two days later. With his brother's help, Ong had gone to Singapore to undergo treatment at Parkway East Hospital under oncologist Ang Peng Tiam. On October 8, after six weeks of treatment, Ong publicly revealed that his sarcoma has been reduced by 60%, stating that given the exceptional difficulty in treating sarcoma, "It's really a miracle".

Electoral history