Arthur C. Yap is a Filipino politician who served as the governor of Bohol from 2019 to 2022. He has extensive experience in government having previously served as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture under President Arroyo from 2004 to 2005 and 2006 to 2007. He was also a member of the House of Representatives representing Bohol's 3rd district from 2010 to 2019. Yap obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law and has worked in private law practice. He ran for and was elected as governor of Bohol in 2019.

1. 17th Congress of the
Philippines
Cong. Arthur C. Yap

2. Arthur C. Yap
• Arthur "Art" Cua Yap (Chinese: 黃嚴輝; pinyin: Huáng
Yánhuī; Pe
̍ h-ōe-jī: N
̂ g Gân-hui;[1] born November 10, 1965) is
a Filipino politician who is the former governor of Bohol from 2019
to 2022. He was the secretary of the Department of
Agriculture under the Arroyo administration from 2004 to 2005 and
from 2006 to 2007.[2] He became a member of the House of
Representatives of the Philippines, representing the 3rd District of
Bohol from 2010 to 2019.

3. Early life and education
• Yap was born on November 10, 1965 in Manila.[3] He is the eldest
among the three children of Domingo Yap and Natividad Cua. His
father was born in Jolo, Sulu and is of Chinese-Tausug descent
while his mother was from Dagupan, Pangasinan.[4]

4. • For his elementary and high school education, Yap studied
at Xavier School from 1973 to 1983.[4] He went to Ateneo de Manila
University for college and graduated in 1987 with a degree in
Management Economics. He was a Dean’s lister during this time
and had Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as his economics professor. He
then went to the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law for
his Juris Doctor's degree. He was admitted to the Philippine Bar in
1992.

5. Career
• While studying, Yap was recruited by his professor to join the
Balane, Barican, Cruz, Alampay Law Office. He worked there for
about two years. After being admitted to the bar, he was
recommended by Fr. Joaquin Bernas to join the law office of
former Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna. Because of that, he
became an associate lawyer of the Azcuna, Yorac, Sarmiento,
Arroyo, Cua Law Office.

6. • In the late 1990s, Yap co-founded the Ejercito-Yap-Butchong Law
Office.[4] He was affiliated also with the Yap, Jacinto, Jacob Law
Office as Co-Founding Partner. He was once the National President
of the Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers.

7. • Yap first entered government service in August 2001 as President and
CEO of the Philippine International Trading Corporation under
the Department of Trade and Industry. Thereafter, he served as the
Administrator of the National Food Authority for two years and
as Agriculture Undersecretary for Luzon Operations, after which was a
brief stint as the Secretary of Agriculture. He was one of the youngest to
be appointed to the Cabinet of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He
was also designated as the Development Champion for the North Luzon
Agribusiness Quadrangle (NLAQ). He then left the post in July 2005 to
give way to Domingo Panganiban.

8. • In December 2005, he became Presidential Adviser for Job
Creation. He then became the 15th Director General of
the Presidential Management Staff, the fifth post he had been
designated to in the Arroyo administration. He was appointed again
as Agriculture Secretary in 2006. He resigned from his position in
February 2010 to run as a member of the House of
Representatives.

9. • From 2010 to 2019, Yap was a congressman representing the third
district of Bohol. While there, he held various positions such as
being assistant minority leader of the Committee on Rules,[5] vice-
chairman of the Committees on Globalization And
WTO,[6] Government Enterprises And Privatization,[6] and
Ecology,[7] chairman of the Committees on Reforestation[6] and
Economic Affairs,[7] and being the deputy speaker from 2018 to
2019.

10. • During the 2019 Philippine gubernatorial elections, Yap ran for
governor of Bohol under PDP–Laban, the party
of President Rodrigo Duterte. His opponents included
former Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco. Yap won by a slim
margin of 2,161 votes garnering 326,895 votes against Evasco’s
324,734.[9] He took his oath on June 30, 2019, officially becoming
Bohol's 26th governor.

11. Personal life
• Yap is married to Carolyne Varquez-Gow, a native of Loboc, Bohol.
Together they have 2 children.