1. Walden Flores Bello was born on November 11,1945 and is a Filipino academic who served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.
22 Facts About Walden Bello
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Walden Bello is an international adjunct professor at Binghamton University, professor of sociology and public administration at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and executive director of regional policy think-tank Focus on the Global South.
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On October 20,2021, Walden Bello filed his candidacy for vice president in the 2022 Philippine elections as the running mate of presidential candidate and labor leader Leody de Guzman.
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Walden Bello was born in Cardona, Rizal to Luz Flores and Jesse Walden Bello from Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, respectively.
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Walden Bello's family paid for his Jesuit schooling at the Ateneo de Manila University.
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The confrontation with police during these protests radicalized Walden Bello and inspired him to pursue a life of activism.
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Walden Bello was later released following a hunger strike to bring attention to the situation the Philippines was facing.
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Walden Bello later wrote Development Debacle: the World Bank in the Philippines in 1982 surrounding the documents stating that this publication contributed toward the 1986 People Power Revolution in the Philippines, with Bello returning to his native state two years later.
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In 1995, Walden Bello co-founded Focus on the Global South, a policy research institute based in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Walden Bello had led teach-ins during the 1999 Seattle WTO protests and protested internationally against globalization at the 2001 G8 summit, the WTO Ministerial Conference of 2003, the WTO Ministerial Conference of 2005 and was banned from the 2006 World Bank-IMF Conference in Singapore.
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Politically, Walden Bello began to turn away from the Communist Party of the Philippines after he heard that they allegedly killed individuals in the 1980s and 1990s that were accused of being double agents.
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Walden Bello later joined the Akbayan Citizens' Action Party and became a member of congress in 2007.
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In March 2015, Walden Bello resigned his position in congress due to conflicts with President Benigno Aquino III that surrounded the Disbursement Acceleration Program and the Mamasapano incident.
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Walden Bello 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.
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The Laban ng Masa coalition launched a campaign to collect 300,000 signatures to urge Walden Bello to run for president in the 2022 elections.
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Walden Bello's group sought talks with Vice President Robredo's backers for three months but were ignored.
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In October 2021, Walden 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.
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Walden Bello had been indicted in June for cyberlibel based on the Revised Penal Code and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 ; stemming from a complaint filed against him by former Davao City information officer Jefry Tupas.
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Walden Bello was detained at the Quezon City Police District headquarters at Camp Karingal until he was released the following day after posting bail.
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Walden Bello's arrest was condemned by the European Parliament and the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights.
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Walden Bello has authored and edited a number of nonfiction books.
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Walden Bello was given the Amnesty International Philippines' "Most Distinguished Defender of Human Rights" award in 2023.