Rob Bonta becomes first Filipino-American to serve as California attorney general

Veteran lawmaker Rob Bonta makes history as he becomes the first Filipino-American attorney general for the state of California.

According to a Los Angeles Times report, the California legislature confirmed on Thursday that it will be appointing 49-year-old Bonta, a progressive Democrat, as the state’s top law enforcer during a time of outroar against police brutality and Asian hate crimes.

Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom nominated Bonta to succeed Xavier Becerra, who was appointed US Health and Human Services secretary.

The assembly approved Bonta’s nomination 62-0 with Republicans abstaining, while the Senate vote was 29-6 with Republicans in opposition or not voting.

Pushing for changes to the criminal justice system, Bonta said during his confirmation hearing, “California DOJ must be an organization that infuses more justice, more humanity, more fairness and more safety into our institutions.”

He added: “We’re in a racial justice reckoning and a reckoning on how we police ... we need to rebuild trust between law enforcement and communities.”

A Yale Law School graduate, Bonta was born in Quezon City and moved to California with his parents when he was two months old. His parents were missionaries who became union organizers in the US.

Aside from serving as deputy city attorney for San Francisco, Bonta was also the first Filipino-American to serve in the state assembly when he was elected in 2012 to represent an east Bay Area district.

Bonta will have to campaign to keep the post come 2022 elections. – Kaela Malig/RC, GMA News