For years, Phillip Te Hernandez was best known for being the hilarious and quick witted dubbing genius on Facebook that is, "Davao Conyo." Fast forward to this year, and Phillip has already solidified his name and presence across multiple social media platforms— making us laugh, one comedic skit at a time.
With all over 2 million followers on Facebook and 1.4 million followers on Tiktok, Phillip has come a long way from where he started and his journey is truly inspiring. Now, whatever platform you're on, may it be Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, and even Twitter, it really is hard to miss his videos, and we are not complaining. Why would we? when Phillip’s videos are blessings from the comedy gods!
Metroscene Mag had the opportunity to catch him up in an interview and to get to know more about Phillip Te Hernandez behind his online persona and on becoming Davao Conyo.
Becoming Davao Conyo
For sure by now you already know where the name, Davao Conyo came from. But if it's not yet obvious, according to Phillip, It started during his “dubber” era. “People in the comment section started to call me Davao Conyo, and then I used it for easy recall," he said.
It was in 2017, when then twenty-six years old Phillip began uploading his dubbed clips of famous movies such as "The Hunger Games," “Himala,” and "Mean Girls." But it was his dubbing on “Four Sisters And A Wedding,” that really captured his online audience. Well, to be honest, back then it was already a comedy gold, the idea of mashing up Tagalog and Bisaya, sometimes even adding a few English words, in creating genius skits and catchy lines is such a fresh take and genius in its own accord.
“I started with dubs kasi parang for fun lang siya but then it gained traction that’s why I did it for 2 years, I think. However I had to stop and transition to my Skits because aside from dubs are limiting, it’s very complicated with copyright issues,” Phillip says.
Moreover, with dubs or no dubs, Phillip thrives in creating something and making it his own. His “smooth promotion” comedy skits, and comedy drama mini-series, “Isang Platitong Hustisya” had their own viral moments and Phillip has never looked backed since.
Phillip on creating content
It is undeniable that the internet is filled with various contents and there are a lot of aspiring artists who try to make it big in content creation. For some, it can be challenging to stand out, but with Phillip, he never missed a mark on being consistently in the limelight through making contents that wins the hearts and the 'haha' reacts of the netizens.
When asked what made him decide to start his career on content creation, Phillip revealed that all of this started in a simple and very honest intention, and that is to make his friends laugh online. “Wala lang, gusto ko lang magpasaya ng friends ko sa Facebook as a pabibo,” He said jokingly. Moreover, as his video went viral he realized that something good can come up with it, “Tas ayon nag work, tapos na realize ko, ‘how do I make use of what I know and make it consumable for a bigger market?’ So ayon, I started to research more, and take into consideration what would most probably make people laugh or at least man lang, smile,” He explained.
Indeed, Phillip succeeded and even went beyond his noble intention, not only that, he is now also making thousands of Filipinos laugh for his comedic skits.
When life imitates art
@davaoconyo charades??
♬ original sound - DavaoConyo
Phillip also shared that he takes inspiration for his content from the most random and mundane things and that sometimes alone helping in his creative process, “I like being alone talaga and spending time with myself and during those times, I observe a lot,” He says. “I observe happenings, conversations, people. I also tend to look back sa mga previous happenings sa buhay ko at mga taong kilala ko. I usually get my ideas from there. I write them down and then pag may time na, I make a full script about it.”
Phillip is also not afraid of voicing out and taking part on the things that matters, especially in our society. He understands that his platform is not a mere place for entertainment but holds much more than what meets the eye.
@davaoconyo overthinker sa personal
♬ original sound - DavaoConyo
And maybe that’s the magic behind Davao Conyo’s contents, the way it mirrors the simplest form of life— even the sad parts— and makes it entertaining. It is not an exaggeration to say that his skits, although humorous at best, are stories of life in their truest form.
What’s ahead of Davao Conyo
At this point, it is already established that Phillip is an artist, achiever, and an innovator in more ways than one. To add more to his credentials, many may not know this, but besides being a content creator, Phillip is also a businessman. According to him, he has a start-up business, a passion-project of sort with his friends which is focused on digital marketing.
But most of all, Phillip really wants to try a not-so-different path if given a chance. “I want so be a scriptwriter for ads and brands,” he shared. “Yung hindi necessary na ako ang magiging face ng commercial or video. Yung mag coconceptualize lang, tapos sila na mag eexecute. favorite part ko kasi talaga ng whole content creation process ang scriptwriting.”
With the looks of it, Phillip or Davao Conyo doesn't show any signs of stopping. And this promising artist will soon still have a lot to offer to the table and we are all here for it! With that, here's a simple advice he wants everyone to know, and that is to value self-respect.
