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 (; '','' thus commonly referred to as ''Kamara'') is the lower house of Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the Senate of the Philippines as the upper house. The lower house is commonly refe ...

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

Baybay Baybay (IPA: aɪ'baɪ, officially the City of Baybay (; ), is a component city in the province of Leyte, Philippines. It has a population of 111,848 people. With an area of , it is the second largest city in the province after Ormoc. Former ...

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 been ...

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

Mapúa University Mapúa University (), also known simply as Mapúa or MU, is a Private university, private Research university, research-oriented Nonsectarian, non-sectarian university located in Metro Manila, Philippines. The university was founded in 1925 by ...

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 A Sangguniang Kabataan (abbreviated as SK; ) is a community council that represents the youth in a barangay in the Philippines. Established to provide young people with a platform for civic engagement and participation in Local government in ...

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, ABC) are formal organizations of all the barangays in the Philippines. Presently, alm ...

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, and Youth and Sports Development, among others.

Education

Cari, a resident of Barangay Candadam in Baybay, Leyte, went through elementary education at 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's 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 on the number of terms a person 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 potential for monopoly, whe ...

. On October 17, 2018, 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 conservatism, conservative political party in the Philippines which was founded in 1992 by presidential candidate Danding Cojuangco. History Formation In 1990, amid political and economic unce ...

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 The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP; ) is a national political party in the Philippines. It is chaired by Bongbong Marcos, president of the Philippines, who won in the 2022 election. During the run-up to the 2022 general election, the UniTea ...

, 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, 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 party mate 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 (RTC; ) 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 Spanish colonial period. It cont ...

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) () are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Philippine Army, Army, the Philippine Air Force, Air Force, and the Philippine Navy, Navy (including 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) Carl voice acted the np version of him.

Electoral history

References

External links

* at

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