Mayor of Manila

The Mayor of Manila (Filipino: Punong Lungsod ng Maynila) is the head of the executive branch of the Manila's government. The mayor holds office at Manila City Hall. Like all local government heads in the Philippines, the mayor is elected via popular vote, and may not be elected for a fourth consecutive term (although the former mayor may return to office after an interval of one term). In case of death, resignation or incapacity, the vice mayor becomes the mayor.

This article is about the Mayor of Manila proper. For a list of mayors of places in Metro Manila, see List of mayors of Metro Manila.

Mayor of Manila
Seal of the City of Manila
Incumbent Isko Moreno since June 30, 2019
Style	The Honourable (Formal)
Appointer	Elected via popular vote
Term length	3 years, not eligible for re-election immediately after three consecutive terms
Inaugural holder	Arsenio Cruz-Herrera
Formation	1901
Website	Office of the Mayor of Manila

History

Prior to the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi, Manila was a Muslim chiefdom headed by datus. From the defeat of Rajah Sulayman's forces in 1595 to the passage of the Maura Law in 1895, the chief executive of the city was appointed by the Spanish government to a person of Spanish descent. The highest position a Filipino was able to hold was the cabeza de barangay. With the passage of the Maura Law, the office of capitan municipal was established, with the people electing their own town heads, although the Spanish retained considerable influence and can veto decisions.

With the eruption of the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War, the position reverted to an appointive head. With the advent of World War II, President Manuel L. Quezon appointed Jorge B. Vargas as mayor of the City of Greater Manila (forerunner of Metro Manila) in 1941. With the liberation of Manila in 1945 by combined Filipino and American soldiers under the United States Army and the Philippine Commonwealth Army including local recognized guerrillas against the Japanese Imperial forces, the earlier setup was used once again.

With the amendment of the city's charter in 1951, the position became an elective post. The first mayoral election was in 1951, and Manila's congressman from the 2nd district Arsenio Lacson defeated incumbent Manuel de la Fuente. A few years after the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos, Manila and nearby cities like Quezon City, Caloocan, and Pasay, were overshadowed by the office of the governor of the newly created Metro Manila, whom Marcos appointed his wife, Imelda Marcos, to the position.

With Arsenio Lacson becoming the first elected Mayor, the City of Manila underwent The Golden Age,[1] was revitalized, and once again became the "Pearl of the Orient", a moniker it earned before the outbreak of the war. After Mayor Lacson's term in the fifties, the city was led by Mayor Antonio Villegas during most of the 60's, and Mayor Ramon Bagatsing for nearly the entire decade of the 70's until the 1986 Edsa revolution.

Mayors Lacson, Villegas, and Bagatsing are often collectively considered as "the Big Three of Manila" for their rather long tenures as the City Hall's chief executive (continuously for over three decades, from 1952 - 1986), but more importantly, for their indelible contribution to the development and progress of the City and their lasting legacy in uplifting the quality of life and welfare of the people of Manila.

With the ouster of Marcos during the People Power Revolution, President Corazon Aquino vacated all local executive officials and appointed officers in charge (OIC) in their place; she appointed party-mate Mel Lopez as OIC of Manila. Local elections were held in 1988, and Lopez was elected as mayor. The Local Government Code was enacted in 1991, and standardized the powers of Manila's mayor making it at par with other cities in the country.

The office of the mayor is often used as a springboard for further political ambitions. In 1961, Lacson bolted the Nacionalista Party to become the campaign manager of the Liberal Party's Diosdado Macapagal's presidential campaign. After Macapagal's victory, Lacson returned with the Nacionalistas and became a critic of the Macapagal administration. Lacson would've been likely the Nacionalista's candidate for the presidency in 1965, had not death intervened in 1962.[2] In 1998, the sitting mayor of Manila, Alfredo Lim, did run as the Liberal Party's candidate for the presidency, but was beaten by Joseph Estrada, finishing fifth in a field of ten candidates, garnering 9% of the vote.

The longest-serving mayor of the City of Manila is Mayor Ramon Bagatsing, who continuously served as the city's chief executive from 1971 until 1986. His tenure could have been longer if his term was not disrupted by the forced resignation of all local government unit heads and the appointment of officers in charge in their place after the 1986 revolution, to which Bagatsing fully supported and complied with, voluntarily handing over his position to the officer in charge Mel Lopez.

The mayor of Manila holds office at the Manila City Hall.

List

#	Name of mayor	Party		Start of term	End of term	Name of Vice mayor
Appointive position (1901–1951)
1	Arsenio Cruz-Herrera		Progresista	August 7, 1901	September 18, 1905	Ramón Fernández
2	Félix Roxas			September 19, 1905	January 15, 1917
						Pablo Ocampo
3	Justo Lukban			January 16, 1917	March 6, 1920
4	Ramón Fernández			March 7, 1920	July 16, 1923	Juan Posadas, Jr.
5	Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr.		Nacionalista	July 17, 1923	February 8, 1924
6	Miguel Romuáldez			February 9, 1924	August 31, 1927
7	Tomás Earnshaw			September 1, 1927	December 31, 1933	Juan Posadas, Jr.
						Jorge B. Vargas
8	Juan Posadas, Jr.			January 1, 1934	January 4, 1940	Jorge B. Vargas
(5)	Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr.		Nacionalista	January 5, 1940	August 28, 1941	Carmen Planas
9	Juan G. Nolasco			August 29, 1941	December 23, 1941	Hermenegildo Atienza
10	Jorge B. Vargas		KALIBAPI	December 24, 1941	January 26, 1942
11	Leon Guinto, Sr.		KALIBAPI	January 27, 1942	July 17, 1944
12	Hermenegildo Atienza		KALIBAPI	July 18, 1944	July 18, 1945	Joaquin R. Roces
(9)	Juan G. Nolasco			July 19, 1945	June 6, 1946
13	Valeriano E. Fugoso, Sr.		Liberal	June 7, 1946	December 31, 1947	Carmen Planas
14	Manuel de la Fuente		Liberal	January 1, 1948	December 31, 1951
Elective position (1952–present)
15	Arsenio Lacson, Sr.		Nacionalista	January 1, 1952	April 15, 1962^[a]	Jesus Marcos Roces
						Antonio Villegas
16	Antonio Villegas		Liberal	April 16, 1962	December 31, 1971	Herminio A. Astorga
						Felicisimo Cabigao
						Leonardo B. Fugoso
						Mel Lopez
17	Ramon Bagatsing		Liberal	January 1, 1972	March 26, 1986^[b]	Martin B. Isidro, Sr.
			KBL			James Barbers
—	Mel Lopez^[c]		UNIDO	March 26, 1986	December 1, 1987	Bambi M. Ocampo
			PDP–Laban			Ernesto A. Nieva
—	Gregorio Ejercito^[c]		N/A	December 2, 1987	February 2, 1988
18	Mel Lopez		PDP–Laban	February 3, 1988	June 30, 1992	Danilo B. Lacuna, Sr.
			LDP
			Lakas			Ernesto V.P. Maceda, Jr.
19	Alfredo Lim		PRP	June 30, 1992	March 27, 1998^[d]	Lito Atienza
			Liberal
20	Lito Atienza		Liberal	March 27, 1998	June 30, 2007	Ernesto A. Nieva
						Larry Silva
						Danilo B. Lacuna, Sr.
(19)	Alfredo Lim		PMP	June 30, 2007	June 30, 2013	Isko Moreno
			Liberal
21	Joseph Estrada		UNA	June 30, 2013	June 30, 2019
			PMP			Ma. Sheilah H. Lacuna-Pangan
22	Isko Moreno		NUP / Asenso Manileño	June 30, 2019	Present (Term ends June 30, 2022)

^a Died in office
^b At this time, after the 1986 EDSA Revolution, President Cory Aquino forced the resignation of all local government unit heads and appointed officers in charge in their place.
^{c1 c2} Officer-in-charge
^d Resigned

Elections

• 1951 Manila mayoral election
• 1955 Manila mayoral election
• 1959 Manila mayoral election
• 1963 Manila mayoral election
• 1967 Manila mayoral election
• 1971 Manila mayoral election
• 1980 Manila mayoral election
• 1988 Manila local elections
• 1992 Manila local elections
• 1995 Manila local elections
• 1998 Manila local elections
• 2001 Manila local elections
• 2004 Manila local elections
• 2007 Manila local elections
• 2010 Manila local elections
• 2013 Manila local elections
• 2016 Manila local elections
• 2019 Manila local elections
• 2022 Manila local elections

Vice Mayor of Manila

The Vice Mayor is the second-highest official of the city. The vice mayor is elected via popular vote; although most mayoral candidates have running mates, the vice mayor is elected separately from the mayor. This can result in the mayor and the vice mayor coming from different political parties.

The Vice Mayor is the presiding officer of the Manila City Council, although they can only vote as the tiebreaker. When a mayor is removed from office, the vice mayor becomes the mayor until the scheduled next election.

#	Name	Start of term	End of term	Full name
Appointive position (1901–1951)
1	Ramón Fernández	August 7, 1901	August 7, 1911	Ramón de Castro. Fernández
2	Pablo D. Ocampo	August 8, 1911	March 6, 1920	Pablo De Leon. Ocampo
3	Juan Posadas, Jr.	March 7, 1920	December 31, 1930	Juan Pablo Posadas Jr.
4	Jorge B. Vargas	January 1, 1931	January 4, 1940	Jorge Bartolome Vargas
5	Carmen Planas	January 5, 1940	August 28, 1941	Carmen Lim Planas
6	Hermenegildo Atienza	August 29, 1941	July 17, 1944	Hermenegildo Joaquin. Atienza
7	Joaquin R. Roces	July 18, 1944	June 7, 1946	Joaquin Reyes Roces
(5)	Carmen Planas	June 7, 1946	December 31, 1951	Carmen Lim Planas
Elective position (1952–present)
8	Jesus M. R. Roces	January 1, 1952	December 30, 1959	Jesus Marcos Reyes Roces
9	Antonio J. Villegas	December 30, 1959	April 15, 1962	Antonio de Jesus. Villegas
10	Herminio A. Astorga	April 16, 1962	December 31, 1967	Herminio Aldaba Astorga
11	Felicisimo R. Cabigao	January 1, 1968	December 31, 1969	Felicisimo Reyes Cabigao
12	Leonardo B. Fugoso	January 1, 1970	December 31, 1970	Leonardo Baloy Fugoso
13	Gemiliano C. Lopez, Jr.	January 1, 1971	December 31, 1971	Gemiliano Campos López, Jr.
14	Martin B. Isidro, Sr.	January 1, 1972	December 31, 1975	Martin Buenaventura Isidro, Sr.
15	James Z. Barbers	January 1, 1976	March 26, 1986	James Zabala Barbers
16	Bambi M. Ocampo	March 26, 1986	April 27, 1987	Bambi Malabanan Ocampo
17	Ernesto A. Nieva	April 28, 1987	February 2, 1988	Ernesto Acheco Nieva
18	Danilo B. Lacuna, Sr.	February 3, 1988	January 31, 1992	Danilo Bautista Lacuna, Sr.
19	Ernesto V.P. Maceda, Jr.	February 1, 1992	June 30, 1992	Ernesto Vera Perez Maceda, Jr.
20	José L. Atienza, Jr.	June 30, 1992	March 27, 1998	José Livioko Atienza, Jr.
(17)	Ernesto A. Nieva	March 27, 1998	May 19, 1998	Ernesto Acheco Nieva
21	Hilario C. Silva	May 20, 1998	June 30, 1998	Hilario Cuenca Silva
(18)	Danilo B. Lacuna, Sr.	June 30, 1998	June 30, 2007	Danilo Bautista Lacuna, Sr.
22	Isko Moreno Domagoso	June 30, 2007	June 30, 2016	Francisco Moreno Domagoso
23	Ma. Sheilah "Honey" H. Lacuna-Pangan	June 30, 2016	Present	Ma. Sheilah Honrado Lacuna

See also

• Roman Catholic archbishop of Manila
• Gobernadorcillo
• Cabeza de Barangay

References

1. Hancock 2000, p. 16 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFHancock2000 (help)
2. "Arsenio Lacson of Manila Dead (pay site)". New York Times. 1962-04-16. Retrieved 2008-02-02. Mr. Lacson had returned to the Nacionalista party, now in opposition, and was considered likely to be its Presidential candidate in 1965