Press Release
November 30, 2017

Koko: Bonifacio championed improved quality of life for Filipinos

Joining the remembrance for Andres Bonifacio's 154th birthday, Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Thursday said that what made Bonifacio great was he wanted to improve the quality of life of Filipinos and dedicated his life to it.

Bonifacio founded the Katipunan, an organization dedicated to the independence of the Philippines from Spain.

"Bonifacio's life story resonates among Filipinos - he stopped school at an early age to support his siblings through his labor. He wanted a better life for his family. He became great because he went beyond his family and also worked for an improved quality of life for all Filipinos," said Pimentel.

Although remembered primarily as a revolutionary, Pimentel noted that Bonifacio aimed to reform the system from within at the beginning, when he joined La Liga Filipina.

Pimentel said, "Bonifacio was a reformist, radicalized by the systemic injustice of the Spanish colonial regime. But some of the problems Bonfacio faced still exists, even more than a hundred years after the Spanish colonial regime was overthrown."

For Pimentel, who is also President of the ruling party PDP Laban, whose Chairman is President Rodrigo Duterte, this is the reason why his party advocates systemic change through the shift to Federalism.

Pimentel said, "Bonifacio wanted to change the system because it wasn't working for the benefit of all. This is also what we want to accomplish in PDP Laban - a peaceful Change through the shift to Federalism which would help solve age-old problems of poverty, injustice, and inequality."

The Senate President added, "My dream is that one day, we can say that we were able to fulfill Bonifacio's vision, that we built a Philippine society that benefits all Filipinos."

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