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. On October 17, 2018, Carl Cari filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC)^[5] for the position, running against Marilou Baligod of the Nationalist People's Coalition 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.^[2]

Cari (center) with his father and outgoing Leyte's Fifth District Representative (left) and grandmother and outgoing Baybay Mayor (second from left)

Running under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, 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.^[6]

18th Congress

On June 30, 2019, Cari was sworn into office.^[7] 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^[8] and Maganhan,^[9] a multi-species marine breeding farm and hatchery,^[10] a National Academy for Sports,^[11] and an additional Regional Trial Court^[9] 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 in their education.^[12] 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.^[13]

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,^[14] the Philippine Indigenous Games Preservation Act,^[15] and a bill declaring the balangay as the national boat.^[16]

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 Leyte.