Cristina Marie T. Bello

Ms. Bello is a Partner of the Firm with legal acumen and technical expertise across multiple areas of law, including corporate and commercial, taxation, family, energy, banking, insurance, mining, and data privacy laws. With her deep comprehension of complex legal frameworks and commitment to truly understanding each client’s goals and challenges, Ms. Bello provides clear, strategic, and practical plans to clients that align with their objectives.

Ms. Bello has extensive experience on structuring a wide range of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, cross-border transactions, related-party transactions, corporate restructuring, and wealth management and estate planning. With a keen eye for detail and comprehensive understanding of taxation law, corporate law, family law, and laws on diverse industries, Ms. Bello is able to establish effective legal structures for the Firm’s clients — ensuring not only the actualization of their business and/or personal objectives, but also tax efficiency and compliance with laws and regulations. Ms. Bello was involved in a complex structuring work in the divestment and acquisition of partnership interests in a coal-fired generation facility, which led to maximum flexibility and tax efficiency for both onshore and offshore acquisitions.

Ms. Bello is proficient in the practice areas of energy, banking, insurance, and mining and natural resources, providing legal advice to and representing clients before the courts and administrative tribunals and agencies. With a thorough understanding of both legal and industry-specific complexities, Ms. Bello supports clients in navigating their ever-evolving regulatory landscape and in managing critical litigation and tax assessments in these highly technical sectors. Ms. Bello is part of the teams that act as counsel to three leading electric cooperatives which are litigating energy regulatory issues before the Supreme Court and the Energy Regulatory Commission, and to various generation facilities, which have successfully defended against and terminated tax assessments against them before the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Court of Tax Appeals.

Ms. Bello is also well-versed in data privacy laws and regulations, providing strategic guidance to the Firm’s clients on data security, risk mitigation, and privacy-related disputes. She has led teams in the conduct of comprehensive impact assessments in relation to cross-border personal data transfer arrangements between Philippine-based entities and companies based in the People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland, among others. In conducting these assessments, Ms. Bello thoroughly studied the Philippines’ national legal standards and government policies on data privacy, vis-à-vis the standards under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, the EU landmark case of Data Protection Commissioner vs. Facebook Ireland Limited and Maximillian Schrems, the Consumer Privacy Act of the State of California, Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, UK Data Protection Act, the UK General Data Protection Regulation, as amended, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

With her multidisciplinary expertise, Ms. Bello is a trusted advisor for businesses, organizations, and individuals navigating complex legal landscapes. Whether structuring a business deal, protecting assets, planning for the future, or navigating a complex dispute, Ms. Bello delivers thoughtful and tailored legal solutions designed to meet the unique needs of each client.

When not making iterations of different tax-saving structures for clients, Ms. Bello enjoys playing with her seven-year-old golden retriever and making arts and crafts.