Bello named SEC commissioner

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has named lawyer and civil servant Karlo Bello from Davao as commissioner.

Bello took over the post vacated by Antonieta Fortuna-Ibe, whose seven-year term expired last March.

The newest SEC Commissioner is a lawyer with extensive experience in government affairs and public policy.

“We look forward to working with Commissioner Bello in our unrelenting thrust to enable the corporate sector, deepen the capital market and protect the investing public toward a more progressive Philippines,” SEC Chair Emilio Aquino said in a statement.

The other members of the SEC’s highest policy-making body are Ephyro Luis Amatong, Javey Paul Francisco and Kelvin Lester Lee.

Before joining the SEC, Bello served as undersecretary for field operations and policy, planning and research at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

Bello, the son of incumbent Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, served as councilor in Davao City for three terms from 2007 to 2016.

Bello is a founding partner at Tiongco Siao Bello & Associates, a full-service law firm based in Ortigas Center, Pasig City with branches in Cebu City and Davao City. He left the law firm following his appointment to the DAR.

He graduated from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2000. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo Law School in 2005 and specialized in administrative law after his admission to the Philippine Bar in 2007. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA