Bam is one of the country’s most dynamic youth leaders today. Bam was initiated into Philippine politics through his uncle, Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., who was assassinated in 1983 when Bam was only six years old. The death of Sen. Aquino sparked protests against the harsh dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Bam took part in these protests as one of the youngest speakers during that time. The protests along with the palpable dissatisfaction of that time against the Marcos regime led to the presidency of Sen. Aquino’s wife, Corazon through a bloodless turnover popularly known as the EDSA Revolution. Bam himself was a figure of EDSA 2 in January 2001 fifteen years after the first peaceful overthrow, as one of the convenors of the thousands of youth that marched the streets of EDSA, this time to oust then President Joseph E. Estrada.

Bam was president of the Student Council in the Ateneo De Manila University, from where he obtained a degree in Management Engineering in 1999. He graduated summa cum laude and valedictorian of his batch. During his tenure as student council president of the Ateneo de Manila University, he became the volunteer head of the first youth-led center of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) Quezon City Quick Count Center, the first youth-led center at that time and was also one of the founding members of the National Union of Catholic Student Councils, where he served as Constitutional Chairman.

At the year of his graduation, Bam was awarded the Jose Rizal Most Outstanding Model Student of the Philippines award as well as the Merit Top-Ten College Co-eds award.

Bam’s first job was with ABS-CBN Foundation from 1999-2000. He was with the Special Projects Group which handled projects for Bantay Bata and Bantay Kalikasan, two branches of the foundation that helped abused children and the environment, respectively.

Bam was made Chairman of the National Youth Commission (NYC), the main youth policy-making arm of the Philippine government in 2003. Previous to this, he was Commissioner-at-Large for two years. He has represented the country in various international conferences, the latest of which was with the ASEAN cub-committee on youth in Indonesia.

Bam was also asked to be Commissioner of the Edsa People Power Commission in 2001. He is on his second term as a member of the Steering Committee of the Habitat for Humanity’s Youth Build program. He was the head of the organizing committee of the Pambansang Ugong Ng Kabataan (PUNK 2001), a National Youth Consultation Program of the Office of the President.

His other advocacies include being the spokesperson for Read to Lead, a reading advocacy campaign, and Children’s Hour, a fund-raising project for less fortunate and special children. In October 2002, Bam was also asked to be part of the Board of Directors of Venture for Fund-Raising, a non-profit non-government organization that helps other NGOs raise resources.

Bam also hosts Breakfast, the youth-oriented TV morning talk show aired over ABS-CBN’s Studio 23.

Bam is the youngest person appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to head a government agency. He assumed office last February 14, 2003.