Walden Bello

Early life and career Bello was born in Cardona, Rizal, to Luz Flores and Jesse Bello from Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur provinces, respectively. His family paid for his Jesuit schooling at the Ateneo de Manila University. During his stay in the Ateneo, he served as the editor-in-chief of The GUIDON in 1965. Subsequently, he attended graduate school at Princeton University. While attending Princeton in the United States, he was introduced to the anti-war movement and led an occupation of the Woodrow Wilson Center. The confrontation with police during these protests radicalized Bello and inspired him to pursue a life of activism. For his graduate studies, he traveled to Chile and stayed in shanty towns following Salvador Allende's socialist rise to the presidency.

When he returned to the United States to defend his dissertation, he lost his ability to return to the Philippines after his passport had been revoked as a result of the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos on September 21, 1972.

Politics and activism Bello received his Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton in 1975 after completing his doctoral dissertation titled "The roots and dynamics of revolution and counterrevolution in Chile." Afterwards, he became part of the anti-Marcos movement, began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, and became a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines. In the early-1980s, Bello also broke into the World Bank headquarters and stole 3,000 pages of confidential documents that he said would show the connection of the IMF and World Bank to Marcos. Bello then convened the second formation of Laban ng Masa in 2017

He currently sits on the board of directors of the International Forum on Globalization and on the board of directors of the leftist think-tank Center for Economic and Policy Research. He is also a member of the regional Greenpeace. Bello's group sought talks with Vice President Robredo's backers for three months but were ignored. This caused them to support Leody de Guzman's presidential candidacy, instead.

2022 vice presidential campaign

In October 2021, Bello decided to run for the vice-presidency under the Partido Lakas ng Masa, replacing Raquel Castillo who had filed her candidacy as Guzman's running mate in the same party.

Political positions The US Socialist Worker described Bello as "one of the most articulate and prolific voices on the international left" and that "he has devoted most of his life to fighting imperialism and corporate globalization". Bello was also a supporter of Hugo Chávez and was impressed by his opposition to the United States, stating after Chávez's death that he was "a class act, one impossible to follow. Wherever you are right now, give 'em hell".

Controversies On August 8, 2022, Bello was arrested by the police in his home in Quezon City through an arrest warrant issued by the Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 10. He was detained at the Quezon City Police District headquarters at Camp Karingal until he was released the following day after posting bail.

His arrest was condemned by the European Parliament and the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights.

In January 2023, the RTC Branch 10 entered a not guilty plea for Bello as he refused to enter a plea to a charge against him.

Books Bello has authored and edited a number of nonfiction books. Among them are the following:

A Siamese Tragedy: Development and Disintegration in Modern Thailand (1999), with co-author Shea Cunningham Global Finance: New Thinking on Regulating Speculative Capital Markets (2000), editor, with co-editor Nicola Bullard Deglobalization: Ideas for a New World Economy: Global Issues (2005) Dilemmas of Domination: The Unmaking of the American Empire (2005) The Anti-Development State: The Political Economy of Permanent Crisis in the Philippines (2006), with co-authors Herbert Docena, Marissa de Guzman, and Mary Lou Malig The Food Wars (2009) Capitalism's Last Stand?: Deglobalization in the Age of Austerity (2013) Counterrevolution: The Global Rise of the Far Right (2019) Paper Dragons: China and the Next Crash (2019) Global Battlefields: My Close Encounters with Dictatorship, Capital, Empire, and Love (2025)

Electoral history

Recognition In 2003, Bello was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, whose website describes him as "one of the leading critics of the current model of economic globalization, combining the roles of intellectual and activist." Bello is also a fellow of the Transnational Institute (based in Amsterdam), and is a columnist for Foreign Policy in Focus. In March 2008 he was named Outstanding Public Scholar for 2008 by the International Studies Association.

Bello was given the Amnesty International Philippines' "Most Distinguished Defender of Human Rights" award in 2023.