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                                                                    Exhibit 31.1

                                  CERTIFICATION

I David F. Holland, certify, that:

    1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of BostonFed Bancorp,
       Inc.;

    2. Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue
       statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
       to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
       such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
       covered by this quarterly report;

    3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
       information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
       material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
       flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
       quarterly report;

    4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
       establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
       defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant
       and have:

       a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
          disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
          supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
          registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to
          us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
          which this quarterly report is being prepared;

       b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
          and procedures and presented in this quarterly report our conclusions
          about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as
          of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report based on
          such evaluation; and

       c) Disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the registrant's
          internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
          registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected,
          or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's
          internal control over financial reporting; and;

    5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
       our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,
       to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's
       board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):

       a) all significant deficiencies in the design and material weaknesses in
          the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
          which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
          ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
          information; and

       b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
          employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
          control over financial reporting.

Date: November 14, 2003             By:     /s/    David F. Holland
                                       -----------------------------------------
                                                   David F. Holland
                                         President and Chief Executive Officer