Bello appointed SEC commissioner

Karlo Bello (right) takes his oath of office as new SEC commissioner before Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III. (Facebook photo)

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has named Karlo Bello as its new commissioner.

Prior to the SEC, Bello served the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) as undersecretary for field operations and policy, planning and research. He was also designated as ex-officio member of the DAR Adjudication Board; chairperson of the Policy Review and Formulation Committee; vice-chairperson of the National Task Force on Land Inventory; vice-chairperson of the Technical Review Committee for the Project Beneficiaries Development/ Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development Support Program Monitoring and Evaluation System; and member of the Agrarian Law Implementation Rules Consolidation Team.

Bello, the son of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, was also the chairperson of the special team that represented the DAR in the Inter-Agency Task Force in the Formulation of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Executive Order No. 75, Series of 2019, which directs the identification of lands owned by the government devoted to or suitable for agriculture for distribution to qualified beneficiaries.

In addition, he was designated as the department’s permanent and alternate representative to and as an action officer of the Task Force Bangon Marawi; chairperson of Task Force Agrarian Reform Boracay Island; vice-chairperson of Task Force Negros Oriental; and chairperson of the special task force constituted to address the Hacienda Nene incident in 2018.

Apart from his stint at DAR, Bello was councilor of Davao City for three terms—from 2007 to 2016—before becoming acting vice mayor and acting mayor in several occasions.

Prior to joining the government, Bello engaged in private law practice. He 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.

Bello graduated from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science degree in 2000. He then earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo Law School in 2005.