President of the Senate of the Philippines

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President of the Senate of the Philippines
Pangulo ng Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas
Seal of the Philippine Senate.svg
Flag of the Senate President of the Philippines.svg
Escudero19th.jpg
Incumbent
Francis Escudero
since May 20, 2024
Style Mr. President
(informal; within the Senate)
The Honorable
(formal)
His Excellency
(formal, diplomatic)
Member of Senate of the Philippines
National Security Council
Commission on Appointments
Reports to Senate of the Philippines
Seat GSIS Building, Pasay
AppointerThe Senate
Term length At the Senate's pleasure
Inaugural holder Manuel L. Quezon
FormationOctober 16, 1916
Succession Second
Website Senate

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.

Contents

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

Election

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

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

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:

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

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

No.PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
Term of officePartyLegislature
Took officeLeft office
1 Quezon.jpg 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 2.jpg Manuel Roxas [3]
(1892–1948)
July 9,
1945
May 28,
1946
Liberal 1st Commonwealth Congress
3 Jose Avelino studio photo.jpg José Avelino
(1890–1986)
May 28,
1946
February 21,
1949
Liberal 2nd Commonwealth Congress
1st Congress
4 Mariano Jesus Cuenco.jpg Mariano Jesús Cuenco
(1888–1964)
February 21,
1949
December 30,
1951
Liberal
2nd Congress
5 Quintin Paredes photo.jpg Quintín Paredes
(1884–1973)
March 5,
1952
April 17,
1952
Liberal
6 Camilo Osias studio photo.jpg Camilo Osías
(1889–1976)
April 17,
1952
April 30,
1952
Nacionalista
7 Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez.jpg Eulogio A. Rodriguez Sr.
(1883–1964)
April 30,
1952
April 17,
1953
Nacionalista
(6) Camilo Osias studio photo.jpg Camilo Osías
(1889–1976)
April 17,
1953
May 20,
1953
Nacionalista
8 Jose Zulueta portrait.jpg José Zulueta
(1889–1972)
May 20,
1953
November 30,
1953
Liberal
(7) Eulogio "Amang" Rodriguez.jpg Eulogio A. Rodriguez Sr.
(1883–1964)
November 30,
1953
April 5,
1963
Nacionalista
3rd Congress
4th Congress
5th Congress
9 Ferdinand E Marcos (cropped).jpg Ferdinand Marcos
(1917–1989)
April 5,
1963
December 30,
1965
Liberal
(until 1965)
Nacionalista
(from 1965)
10 Arturo Tolentino.jpg Arturo M. Tolentino
(1910–2004)
January 17,
1966
January 26,
1967
Nacionalista 6th Congress
11 Gil Puyat photo.jpg Gil Puyat
(1907–1980)
January 26,
1967
September 23,
1972
Nacionalista
7th Congress
12 Salonga.jpg Jovito R. Salonga
(1920–2016)
July 27,
1987
January 18,
1992
Liberal 8th Congress
13 Neptali Gonzales.gif Neptali Gonzales
(1923–2001)
January 18,
1992
January 18,
1993
LDP
9th Congress
14 Edgardo Angara picture.jpg Edgardo Angara
(1934–2018)
January 18,
1993
August 28,
1995
LDP
10th Congress
(13) Neptali Gonzales.gif Neptali Gonzales
(1923–2001)
August 29,
1995
October 10,
1996
LDP
15 Ernesto Maceda (cropped 2).jpg Ernesto Maceda
(1935–2016)
October 10,
1996
January 26,
1998
NPC
(13) Neptali Gonzales.gif Neptali Gonzales
(1923–2001)
January 26,
1998
June 30,
1998
LDP
16 Marcelo Fernan.jpg Marcelo Fernan
(1927–1999)
July 27,
1998
June 28,
1999
LDP 11th Congress
17 Blas Ople 2.jpg Blas Ople
(1927–2003)
June 28,
1999
July 12,
2000
LAMMP
18 JPPFL Sen. Franklin Drilon (cropped).jpg Franklin Drilon
(born 1945)
July 12,
2000
November 13,
2000
Independent
19 Nene Pimentel at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani 2018 Honoring of Martyrs and Heroes.jpg Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
(1933–2019)
November 13,
2000
June 30,
2001
PDP–Laban
(18) JPPFL Sen. Franklin Drilon (cropped).jpg Franklin Drilon
(born 1945)
July 23,
2001
July 24,
2006
Independent
(until 2003)
12th Congress
Liberal
(from 2003)
13th Congress
20 Manny Villar Photo.jpg Manny Villar
(born 1949)
July 24,
2006
November 17,
2008
Nacionalista
14th Congress
21 Juan Ponce Enrile COC 2019 elections filing (cropped).jpg Juan Ponce Enrile
(born 1924)
November 17,
2008
June 5,
2013
PMP
15th Congress
Official photo of Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada.jpg Jinggoy Estrada
(born 1963)

Acting
June 5,
2013
July 22,
2013
PMP
(18) JPPFL Sen. Franklin Drilon (cropped).jpg Franklin Drilon
(born 1945)
July 22,
2013
June 30,
2016
Liberal 16th Congress
22 Koko Pimentel IAEA cropped.jpg Koko Pimentel
(born 1964)
July 25,
2016
May 21,
2018
PDP–Laban 17th Congress
23 Tito Sotto III (cropped).jpg Tito Sotto
(born 1948)
May 21,
2018
June 30,
2022
NPC
18th Congress
24 Migz Zubiri - 2021.jpg Migz Zubiri
(born 1969)
July 25,
2022
May 20,
2024
Independent 19th Congress
25 Escudero19th.jpg Francis Escudero
(born 1969)
May 20,
2024
Incumbent NPC

Timeline

President of the Senate of the Philippines

Sources

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References

  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.