Professor Emeritus of philosophy Armando F. Bonifacio passed away on Dec. 10. He was 93.
Born on Oct. 20, 1928, Bonifacio was described in the 2014 UP Diliman General Education Conference Proceedings (https://oat.upd.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Proceedings-of-the-2014-UP-Diliman-GE-Conference.compressed.pdf) as one of the “eminent UP faculty in the mid-20th century.” His works “Reflections on the Problem of General Education for the University of the Philippines” and “Some Further Comments on the General Education Program” were among those reviewed at the conference as the UPD faculty discussed and reviewed the original framework of the general education program. His works, written in 1959, discussed key issues for a new general education program for UP.
Bonifacio received his emeritus appointment on Jan. 29, 1987. According to the “UP Gazette” (Vol. XVIII, No. 1) the UP Board of Regents approved his appointment “for being an effective teacher and able administrator; for his valuable contributions to the University, particularly the development of the general education program, the curricular improvement of the medicine program, and the institution of the Institute of Health Sciences (Tacloban) where he introduced the concept of a social contract between student and community; and for his marked scholarship.”
As part of UP’s academic community, Bonifacio held positions in various capacities. On July 1, 1974, he was appointed to the professorial chair of philosophy, a post he held until June 30, 1977. He was also a member of the University Academic Personnel Board, a post that was renewed from Jan. 26, 1978 to Jan. 25, 1979.
His work “A Concept of Transcendental Knowledge” was published in “Dialectics and Humanism,” an academic journal for all fields of contemporary Polish philosophy, in autumn of 1976. Bonifacio was the brother of UP Professor Emeritus of sociology, Manuel F. Bonifacio, PhD, and uncle of former College of Arts and Letters dean, Prof. Ma. Amihan L. Bonifacio-Ramolete, PhD.