President of the Senate of the Philippines
Pangulo ng Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas
Seal of the Senate
Flag of the Senate
Incumbent
Juan Miguel Zubiri
since July 25, 2022
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 City
AppointerThe Senate
Term lengthAt the Senate's pleasure
Inaugural holderManuel L. Quezon
FormationOctober 16, 1916
SuccessionSecond
WebsiteSenate

The president of the Senate of the Philippines (Filipino: Pangulo ng Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas) or (Pangulo ng Senado ng Pilipinas) 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.

The current Senate president is Juan Miguel Zubiri. He was elected on July 25, 2022, the first day of the 19th Congress.

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:

  • 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

The Senate was created on 1916 with the abolition of the Philippine Commission as the upper house with the Philippine Assembly as the lower house. The Senate and the House of Representatives comprised the Philippine Legislature (PL). Representation was by senatorial district; Manuel L. Quezon was elected senator from the now-defunct 5th legislative district.

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
1995		 LDP
15 Ernesto Maceda
(1935–2016)		 October 10
1995		 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		 Incumbent Independent 19th Congress

Timeline

Sources

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.
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