President of the Senate of the Philippines

The president of the Senate of the Philippines (Filipino: Pangulo ng Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas or Pangulo ng Senado ng Pilipinas), commonly referred to as the Senate president, is the presiding officer and the highest-ranking official of the Senate of the Philippines, and third highest and most powerful official in the government of the Philippines. They are elected by the entire body to be their leader. The Senate president is second in the line of succession to the presidency, behind only the vice president and ahead of the speaker of the House of Representatives.

President of the Senate of the Philippines
Pangulo ng Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas
since May 20, 2024
StyleMr. President
(informal; within the Senate)
The Honorable
(formal)
His Excellency
(formal, diplomatic)
Member ofSenate of the Philippines
National Security Council
Commission on Appointments
Reports toSenate of the Philippines
SeatGSIS Building, Pasay
AppointerThe Senate
Term lengthAt the Senate's pleasure
Inaugural holderManuel L. Quezon
FormationOctober 16, 1916
SuccessionSecond
WebsiteSenate

The current Senate president is Francis Escudero. He was elected on May 20, 2024.

Election

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The Senate president is elected by the majority of the members of the Senate from among themselves; Since there are 24 senators, 13 votes are needed to win the Senate presidency, including any vacant seats or senators not attending the session. Although Senate presidents are elected at the start of each Congress, there had been numerous instances of Senate coups in which a sitting Senate president is unseated in the middle of session. Term-sharing agreements among senators who are both eyeing the position of the Senate president also played a role in changing the leadership of the Senate, but in a smooth manner, the peaceful transition of power and this was done two times in 1999 and in 2006.

Unlike most Senate presidents that are the symbolic presiding officers of the upper house, the Senate president of the Philippines wields considerate power by influencing the legislative agenda and has the ability to vote not just in order to break ties, although the Senate president is traditionally the last senator to vote. A tied vote, therefore, means that the motion is lost, and that the Senate president cannot cast a tie-breaking vote since that would mean that the presiding officer would have had voted twice.

Powers and duties

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According to the Rule 3 of the Rules of the Senate, the Senate president has the powers and duties to:

  • To preside over the sessions of the Senate on the days and at the hours designated by it; to call the Senate to order and, if there is a quorum, to order the reading of the Journal of the preceding session and, after the Senate shall have acted upon it, to dispose of the matters appearing in the Order of Business in accordance with the Rules;
  • To decide all points of order;
  • To sign all measures, memorials, joint and concurrent resolutions; issue warrants, orders of arrest, subpoena and subpoena duces tecum;
  • To see to it that all resolutions of the Senate are complied with;
  • To have general control over the session hall, the antechambers, corridors and offices of the Senate;
  • To maintain order in the session hall, the antechambers, corridors and in the offices of the Senate, and whenever there is disorder, to take appropriate measures to quell it;
  • To designate an acting sergeant-at-arms, if the sergeant-at-arms resigns, is replaced or becomes incapacitated;
  • To appoint the subordinate personnel of the Senate in conformity with the provisions of the General Appropriations Act;
  • To dismiss any employee for cause, which dismissal in the case of permanent and classified employees shall be in conformity with the Civil Service Law; and
  • To diminish or increase the number of authorized personnel by consolidating or separating positions or items whenever the General Appropriations Act so authorizes and the total amount of salaries or allocations does not exceed the amount earmarked therein.

The Senate president is also the ex officio chairman of the Commission on Appointments, a constitutional body within the Congress that has the sole power to confirm all appointments made by the president of the Philippines. Under Section 2 of Chapter 2 of the Rules of the Commission on Appointments, the powers and duties of the Senate president as its ex-officio chairman are as follows:

  • to issue calls for the meetings of the commission;
  • to preside at the meetings of the commission;
  • to preserve order and decorum during the session and, for that purpose, to take such steps as may be convenient or as the commission may direct;
  • to pass upon all questions of order, but from his decision, any member may appeal to the commission; and,
  • to execute such decisions, orders, and resolutions as may have been approved by the commission.

And if other impeachable officers other than the president such as the ombudsman is on an impeachment trial, the Senate president is the presiding officer and shall be the last to vote on the judgment on such cases according to the Senate Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Trials the Senate adopted on March 23, 2011.

In the Senate, he supervises the committees and attended its hearings and meetings if necessary and such committee reports are being submitted to his/her office.

List of Senate presidents

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All senators from 1941 onwards were elected at-large, with the whole Philippines as one constituency.

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Party Legislature
Took office Left office
1   Manuel L. Quezon[1]
Member for the 5th Senatorial District
(1878–1944)
August 29,
1916
November 15,
1935
Nacionalista 4th Legislature
5th Legislature
Nacionalista
Colectivista
6th Legislature
Nacionalista 7th Legislature
8th Legislature
9th Legislature
Nacionalista
Democratico
10th Legislature
  • The Senate and the House of Representatives were merged into the unicameral National Assembly in 1935 at the onset of the Commonwealth period. The National Assembly was replaced by the bicameral Commonwealth Congress with the amendment of the 1935 Constitution in 1940, with the first election for the Senate elected nationwide at-large held in November 1941. However, the outbreak of World War II in the Philippines meant that the Commonwealth Congress did not convene until 1945.[2]
  • For the speakers of the National Assembly, see Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.
2   Manuel Roxas[3]
(1892–1948)
July 9,
1945
May 28,
1946
Liberal 1st Commonwealth Congress
3   José Avelino
(1890–1986)
May 28,
1946
February 21,
1949
Liberal 2nd Commonwealth Congress
1st Congress
4   Mariano Jesús Cuenco
(1888–1964)
February 21,
1949
December 30,
1951
Liberal
2nd Congress
5   Quintín Paredes
(1884–1973)
March 5,
1952
April 17,
1952
Liberal
6   Camilo Osías
(1889–1976)
April 17,
1952
April 30,
1952
Nacionalista
7   Eulogio A. Rodriguez Sr.
(1883–1964)
April 30,
1952
April 17,
1953
Nacionalista
(6)   Camilo Osías
(1889–1976)
April 17,
1953
May 20,
1953
Nacionalista
8   José Zulueta
(1889–1972)
May 20,
1953
November 30,
1953
Liberal
(7)   Eulogio A. Rodriguez Sr.
(1883–1964)
November 30,
1953
April 5,
1963
Nacionalista
3rd Congress
4th Congress
5th Congress
9   Ferdinand Marcos
(1917–1989)
April 5,
1963
December 30,
1965
Liberal
(until 1965)
Nacionalista
(from 1965)
10   Arturo M. Tolentino
(1910–2004)
January 17,
1966
January 26,
1967
Nacionalista 6th Congress
11   Gil Puyat
(1907–1980)
January 26,
1967
September 23,
1972
Nacionalista
7th Congress
12   Jovito R. Salonga
(1920–2016)
July 27,
1987
January 18,
1992
Liberal 8th Congress
13   Neptali Gonzales
(1923–2001)
January 18,
1992
January 18,
1993
LDP
9th Congress
14   Edgardo Angara
(1934–2018)
January 18,
1993
August 28,
1995
LDP
10th Congress
(13)   Neptali Gonzales
(1923–2001)
August 29,
1995
October 10,
1996
LDP
15   Ernesto Maceda
(1935–2016)
October 10,
1996
January 26,
1998
NPC
(13)   Neptali Gonzales
(1923–2001)
January 26,
1998
June 30,
1998
LDP
16   Marcelo Fernan
(1927–1999)
July 27,
1998
June 28,
1999
LDP 11th Congress
17   Blas Ople
(1927–2003)
June 28,
1999
July 12,
2000
LAMMP
18   Franklin Drilon
(born 1945)
July 12,
2000
November 13,
2000
Independent
19   Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
(1933–2019)
November 13,
2000
June 30,
2001
PDP–Laban
(18)   Franklin Drilon
(born 1945)
July 23,
2001
July 24,
2006
Independent
(until 2003)
12th Congress
Liberal
(from 2003)
13th Congress
20   Manny Villar
(born 1949)
July 24,
2006
November 17,
2008
Nacionalista
14th Congress
21   Juan Ponce Enrile
(born 1924)
November 17,
2008
June 5,
2013
PMP
15th Congress
  Jinggoy Estrada
(born 1963)

Acting
June 5,
2013
July 22,
2013
PMP
(18)   Franklin Drilon
(born 1945)
July 22,
2013
June 30,
2016
Liberal 16th Congress
22   Koko Pimentel
(born 1964)
July 25,
2016
May 21,
2018
PDP–Laban 17th Congress
23   Tito Sotto
(born 1948)
May 21,
2018
June 30,
2022
NPC
18th Congress
24   Migz Zubiri
(born 1969)
July 25,
2022
May 20,
2024
Independent 19th Congress
25   Francis Escudero
(born 1969)
May 20,
2024
Incumbent NPC

Timeline

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Sources

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References

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  1. ^ "Biography of Senate President Quezon". Senate of the Philippines. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  2. ^ "The Legislative Branch: Commonwealth of the Philippines, 1935 – 1946". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  3. ^ "Biography of Senate President Roxas". Senate of the Philippines. Retrieved February 8, 2019.