While studying, Yap was recruited by a 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. The latter served as the external corporate counsel for DHY Realty and Development Inc., a family-owned corporation in which Yap and his father held the positions of vice president and president, respectively. This company became the subject of a tax evasion complaint filed by the
Bureau of Internal Revenue, alleging actions dating back to 1997. However, this complaint was subsequently dismissed by the
Department of Justice in October 2005. 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. 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 October 2006, serving until his resignation in February 2010 to run as a member of the
House of Representatives. 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, vice-chairman of the Committees on Globalization And WTO, Government Enterprises And Privatization, chairman of the Committees on Reforestation 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. He took his oath on June 30, 2019, officially becoming Bohol's 26th governor. During his tenure, in 2021, he proposed the construction of
Bohol Arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena that would become the largest project he proposed, with a budget of ₱200 million. Yap, with only 283,903 lost to
Erico Aristotle Aumentado who garnered 469,736 in the
2022 Bohol local elections. ==Controversies==