Duterte “mastermind” behind my arrest, says Bello

Walden Bello, the former Akbayan Party-list representative and vice presidential candidate in 2022, blamed his arrest on Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio on Wednesday, August 10.

The Davao City court had filed cyber libel charges against Bello, which he decried as political harassment.
In response to the arrest at his residence in Barangay Holy Spirit on Tuesday, Bello, 76, posted bail of P96,000 a day after the QCPD arrested him. He said he had “no doubt” and it was “very clear” that Sara Duterte was behind my arrest by weaponizing Cybercrime Law to silence critics.

However, he said Duterte could not stop him from exposing public corruption and irregularities in government.

As he spoke, Bello was accompanied by his then running mate and presidential candidate, Bukluran ng Mamamayan chairman Leodegario “Leody” de Guzman, and his lead attorney, Luke Espiritu, who said the case against him was a clear proxy harassment with the Vice President at the center.

Bello said that Duterte is behaving as expected of someone who refused to participate in debates with other candidates in the recent elections.

“She is running to form by putting up a dummy to file the charges against me, just as she and her running mate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rejected debates with other candidates during the recent elections.”