The Senate of the Philippines is the upper house of Congress,the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives as the lower house. The Senate is composed of 24 senators who are elected at-large under plurality-at-large voting.
Blas Fajardo Ople was a Filipino journalist and politician who held several high-ranking positions in the executive and legislative branches of the Philippine government,including as Senate President from 1999 to 2000,and as Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 2002 until his death. Perceived as a leftist-nationalist at the onset of his career in public service,Ople was,in his final years,a vocal supporter for allowing a limited United States military presence in the Philippines,and for American initiatives in the War on Terror including the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Aquilino Quilinging Pimentel Jr.,commonly known as Nene Pimentel,was a Filipino politician and human rights lawyer who was one of the leading political opposition leaders during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos from the declaration of martial law in 1972 until the People Power Revolution in 1986,which removed Marcos from power. He co-founded the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) and served as the President of the Senate of the Philippines from 2000 to 2001. He is the father of incumbent senator and former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III. In 2018,Pimentel was identified by the Human Rights Victims' Claims Board as a Motu Proprio human rights violations victim of the Martial Law Era.
The Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino,formerly Partido ng Masang Pilipino,is a populist political party in the Philippines. It is the political party of former Philippine President Joseph E. Estrada. In the May 1998 presidential election,it aligned itself with other political parties to form the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino.
The Second EDSA Revolution,also known as the Second People Power Revolution,EDSA 2001,or EDSA II,was a political protest from January 17–20,2001 which peacefully overthrew the government of Joseph Estrada,the thirteenth president of the Philippines. Following allegations of corruption against Estrada and his subsequent investigation by Congress,impeachment proceedings against the president were opened on January 16. The decision by several senators not to examine a letter which would purportedly prove Estrada's guilt sparked large protests at the EDSA Shrine in Metro Manila,and calls for Estrada's resignation intensified in the following days,with the Armed Forces withdrawing their support for the president on January 19. On January 20 Estrada resigned and fled Malacañang Palace with his family. He was succeeded by Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,who had been sworn into the presidency by Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. several hours earlier.
The 2001 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 27th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday,May 14,2001,to elect 12 of the 24 seats and one mid-term vacancy in the Senate. Independent candidate Noli de Castro,a journalist and former television anchor,was announced as the topnotcher. This became the first synchronized national and local elections held after the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada in January due to a military-backed civilian uprising,popularly known as EDSA II.
The New Society Movement,formerly named the New Society Movement of United Nationalists,Liberals,et cetera,is a right-wing political party in the Philippines. It was first formed in 1978 as an umbrella coalition of parties supporting then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos for the Interim Batasang Pambansa and was his political vehicle during his 20-year regime. It was reorganized as a political party in 1986,and is the furthest to the right of the political spectrum among active parties after Marcos' ouster.
Jose Pimentel Ejercito Jr.,also known as Jinggoy Estrada,is a Filipino politician and film actor who has been a Senator since 2022,and previously from 2004 to 2016. He was the president pro tempore of the Senate from 2007 to 2013,and briefly became Senate President in acting capacity after Juan Ponce Enrile's resignation. Before serving in the Senate,he was the vice mayor (1988–1992) and later mayor (1992–2001) of San Juan when it was still a municipality.
The 1981 Philippine presidential election and national referendum was held on June 16,1981. President Ferdinand E. Marcos of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) defeated retired general and World War II veteran Alejo Santos of the Nacionalista Party in a landslide victory. Most opposition parties boycotted the election as a sign of protest over the 1978 election for the Interim Batasang Pambansa,which they condemned as fraudulent. At the same time,a national referendum was held on the question in holding elections for barangay elections in 1982.
Juan Valentin Furagganan Ponce Enrile Sr.,,also referred to by his initials JPE,is a Filipino politician and lawyer known for his role in the administration of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos;his role in the failed coup that helped hasten the 1986 People Power Revolution and the ouster of Marcos;and his tenure in the Philippine legislature in the years after the revolution. Enrile has served four terms in the Senate,in a total of twenty-two years,he holds the third longest-tenure in the history of the upper chamber. In 2022,at the age of 98,he returned to government office as the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel in the administration of Bongbong Marcos.
Franklin Magtunao Drilon is a Filipino lawyer and former politician. He had the longest tenure in the Senate of the Philippines,having served four non-consecutive terms overall:from 1995 to 2007 and 2010 to 2022. He has served thrice as president of the Senate:in 2000,from 2001 to 2006,and from 2013 to 2016.
Ramon Villarosa Mitra Jr. was a Filipino statesman,diplomat,and pro-democracy activist. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 1987 to 1992. Prior to that,he was Corazon Aquino's first minister of Agriculture from 1986 to 1987,a member of the Batasang Pambansa from 1984 to 1986 and a senator during the 7th Congress.
A parliamentary election was held in the Philippines on April 7,1978,for the election of the 165 regional representatives to the Interim Batasang Pambansa. The elections were participated in by the leading opposition party,the Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN),which had twenty-one candidates for the Metro Manila area while the leading candidate was the jailed opposition leader Ninoy Aquino,and the Marcos regime's party known as the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL),which was led by the then-First Lady Imelda Marcos. Ninoy was allowed to run by his fellow partymates under the Liberal Party,who boycotted the election and was not allowed to campaign,and so his family campaigned for him. The night before the election on April 6,1978,a noise barrage was organized by the supporters of (LABAN) which occurred up to dawn.
Ninoy Aquino Day is a national non-working holiday in the Philippines observed annually on August 21 commemorating the assassination of former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino,Jr. was the husband of Corazon Aquino,who later became 11th Philippine President. His assassination led to the downfall of the 10th president of the Philippines,Ferdinand Marcos,on February 25,1986,through the People Power Revolution. Since 2004,a commemoration ceremony is traditionally held that was attended by presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,Fidel V. Ramos and Benigno Aquino III.
Ceferino "Joker" Paz Arroyo Jr. was a Filipino statesman and key figure in the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos. He was a Congressman for Makati from 1992 to 2001 and Senator from 2001 to 2013. Arroyo received various awards and commendations for his significant contributions to the law profession and public service. Among these are the Philippine Bar Association's Most Distinguished Award for Justice as a "man beholden to no one except to his country" and Senate Resolution No. 100 enacted in the 8th Congress citing his invaluable service to the Filipino people. He was also known for being the thriftiest legislator,earning the title of "Scrooge of Congress",as he only had few staff members without bodyguards and did not use his pork barrel funds. In 2018,Arroyo was identified by the Human Rights Victims' Claims Board as a Motu proprio human rights violations victim of the Martial Law Era.
A senatorial election was held on November 8,1971 in the Philippines. The opposition Liberal Party won five seats in the Philippine Senate while three seats were won by the Nacionalista Party,the administration party;this was seen as a consequence of the Plaza Miranda bombing on August 21,1971,which wounded all of the Liberal Party's candidates and almost took the lives of John Henry Osmeña and Jovito Salonga. Their terms as senators were cut short as a result of the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos on September 23,1972.
Arnulfo Palma Fuentebella was the Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives from 2000 to 2001. He was also a representative of the 3rd district of Camarines Sur,more popularly known as the Partido district.
Orlando Sanchez Mercado,better known as Orly Mercado,is a Filipino politician and broadcast journalist best known for having served as a senator of the Philippines from 1987 to 1998,Secretary of Defense from 1998 to 2001,and for his long career as a broadcast journalist,most famously for hosting the television program Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko.
Teofisto "Tito" Tayko Guingona Jr. is a Filipino politician and diplomat who served as the 11th Vice President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2004,during the first term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Born in San Juan,Rizal,Teofisto is a graduate of Ateneo de Manila University,where he was a working student.
Leonardo Balagot Perez was a Filipino politician who served as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives on behalf of the province of Nueva Vizcaya. He was a member of the Senate of the Philippines,and served in the cabinet of President Ferdinand Marcos.
