Carl Nicolas Cellona Cari (born July 4, 1992) is a Filipino politician. He is a member of the

Philippine House of Representatives The House of Representatives of the Philippines ( fil, Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas, italic=unset, ''Kamara'' or ''Kamara de Representantes'' from the Spanish language, Spanish word ''cámara'', meaning "chamber") is the lower house ...

, serving as the current representative of the Fifth District of Leyte. He is a son of the former representative the Fifth District of Leyte, Jose Carlos "Boying" Cari, and the current mayor of

Baybay Baybay (IPA: aɪ'baɪ, officially the City of Baybay ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Baybay; war, Syudad han Baybay), is a 1st class component city in the province of Leyte, Philippines. It has a population of 111,848 people. With an area of , it is the s ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

and the late Margarita C. Cari. Cari graduated from the

Mapúa University Mapúa University ( fil, Pamantasang Mapúa), also known simply as Mapúa or MU, is a private research-oriented non-sectarian university located in Metro Manila, Philippines. The university was founded in 1925 by the first registered Filipino ar ...

with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Manufacturing Engineering. Prior to being elected as a member of the House of Representatives, he served as President of the

Sangguniang Kabataan Sangguniang Kabataan (abbreviated as SK; ) is a council meant to represent the youth in each barangay in the Philippines. It was put "on hold", but not quite abolished, prior to the 2013 barangay elections. In January 2016, the Sangguniang ...

Federation (2007-2010) and as President of the

Liga ng mga Barangay The Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas (League of Barangays in the Philippines) and the Asosasyon ng mga Kapitan ng Barangay (Association of Barangay Captains) or ABC are formal organizations of all the barangays in the Philippines. Presently, al ...

of the City of Baybay. At 26, Cari was elected to succeed his father as the representative of the Fifth District of Leyte. As a member of Congress, he serves as a member of the House Committees on Appropriations, Basic Education and Culture, Visayas Development, Youth and Sports Development, among others.

Education

Cari, a resident of Barangay Candadam in Baybay, Leyte, went through elementary education in the ViSCA Foundation Elementary School (VFES). He graduated from VSU Integrated High School, formerly known as VSU Laboratory High School (VSULHS). On May 25, 2017, he graduated with a degree of Bachelor in Science in Manufacturing Engineering from Mapúa University, which then was known as the Mapúa Institute of Technology.

Congressional career

Elections

Cari's father, Jose Carlos "Boying" L. Cari, then on his third term as representative of the Fifth District of Leyte, was

term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

. On October 17, 2018, he Carl Cari filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the position, running against Marilou Baligod of the

Nationalist People's Coalition The Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) is a conservative political party in the Philippines, founded in 1992 by then-presidential candidate Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. History The Party was founded in 1992 after some members of the Nacionalista ...

who ran in the past for the position of City Mayor of Baybay against Cari's grandmother, Carmen L. Cari. In an interview, the young Cari said it was his personal decision to run for Congress and that he was not influenced to run for office. Cari_Proclamation

Running under the

Partido Federal ng Pilipinas Partido Federal ng Pilipinas ( en, Federal Party of the Philippines; PFP) is a national political party in the Philippines. It is chaired by Bongbong Marcos, president of the Philippines who won by a landslide in the 2022 election. During the r ...

, Cari won the election by 66.86%. All local candidates in Baybay under the same party, including his father who ran for City Mayor, won. He was then proclaimed by the Provincial Board of Canvassers on May 15, 2019.

18th Congress

On June 30, 2019, Cari was sworn into office. Voting for

Cayetano Cayetano is a Spanish and sometimes Sephardic Jewish name related to the Italian name Gaetano (English: ''Cajetan''), both from Latin ''Caietanus'', meaning "from Gaeta". It is a common given name in Spain, Mexico, Argentina and the Philippines. As ...

, he is a member of the majority block in the House. Cari is also a member of the Millennials Club in the House of Representatives, along with his partymate Faustino "Inno" Dy, Nacionalista's Breaden John Biron, NUP's Bai Rhian Sakaluran, among others. Since taking his oath of office, Cari has filed bills on establishing Junior High Schools in Barangays Punta and Maganhan, a multi-species marine breeding farm and hatchery, a National Academy for Sports, and an additional

Regional Trial Court The Regional Trial Courts ( fil, Panrehiyong Hukuman sa Paglilitis) are the highest trial courts in the Philippines. In criminal matters, they have original jurisdiction. History It was formerly called as the Court of First Instance since the ...

in Baybay. He has proposed the Fallen Heroes Scholarship for the Youth Act or the Caring Act of 2019, a bill that covers qualified immediate dependents of firefighters, police officers, and members of the

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The P ...

in their education. He has also advocated for the vaccination of all students in public and secondary schools who had never received or had incomplete vaccinations by filing the Vaccinate All Children Act of 2020. Cari is among the principal authors of the Malasakit Centers Act. The neophyte member of Congress is also among the principal authors of measures approved by the House, including the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act, the Philippine Indigenous Games Preservation Act, and a bill declaring the ''

balangay A Balangay, or barangay is a type of lashed-lug boat built by joining planks edge-to-edge using pins, dowels, and fiber lashings. They are found throughout the Philippines and were used largely as trading ships up until the colonial era. The ...

'' as the national boat. He was instrumental in the proposed creation of a new province to be called ''Leyte Occidental'', which will be composed of the Fifth Legislative District of

Committee assignments

Currently in the 18th Congress, he is a member of the following House Committees: * Accounts (since August 7, 2019) * Agriculture and Food (since August 5, 2019) * Appropriations (since August 13, 2019) * Basic Education and Culture (since July 31, 2019) * Flagship Programs and Projects (since December 18, 2019) * Labor and Employment (since August 13, 2019) * People Participation (since November 11, 2019) * Population and Family Relations (since August 13, 2019) * Public Works and Highways (since August 7, 2019) * Rural Development (since August 13, 2019) * Visayas Development (since August 14, 2019) * Youth and Sports Development (since August 6, 2019)

Electoral history

References

External links

* at

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