President of the Senate of the Philippines

The President of the Senate of the Philippines (Filipino: Pangulo ng Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas or Filipino: Pangulo ng Senado ng Pilipinas) more popularly known 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. He/she is elected by the entire body to be their leader. The Senate President is second in line in succession for the presidency, behind the Vice President of the Philippines and in front of the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.

President of the Senate of the Philippines Pangulo ng Senado ng Pilipinas
Seal of the Philippine Senate
Flag of the Senate
Incumbent Vicente Sotto III since May 21, 2018
Style	Mr. President (When presiding over Senate) The Honorable (Formal)
Appointer	Elected by the Senate of the Philippines
Inaugural holder	Manuel L. Quezon
Formation	October 16, 1916
Succession	Second in the Presidential Line of Succession
Website	Senate

The current Senate President of the 17th Congress of the Philippines is Vicente Sotto III, who was elected on May 21, 2018.

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.

#	Senate President		Party	Tenure of Office	Legislature or Congress	Era	Ref.
1		Manuel L. Quezon, Sr.	NP	August 29, 1916–November 15, 1935 (19 years, 78 days)	Fourth	Insular Government	[1]
					Fifth
					Sixth
					Seventh
					Eighth
					Ninth
					Tenth
The Senate and the House of Representatives were merged into the unicameral National Assembly in 1935 at the onset of the Commonwealth period. It was replaced by the bicameral Commonwealth Congress (CC) with the amendment of the 1935 Constitution in 1940, with the first election for a senate elected 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. For the leaders of the National Assembly, see Speakers of the National Assembly.						Commonwealth	[2]
2		Manuel A. Roxas, Sr.	NP (Liberal wing)	July 9, 1945–May 28, 1946 (323 days)	First		[3]
3		José Avelino	Liberal	May 28, 1946–February 21, 1949 (2 years, 269 days)	Second
					First	Third Republic
4		Mariano Jesús Cuenco		February 21, 1949–December 30, 1951 (2 years, 312 days)
					Second
5		Quintín Paredes		March 5, 1952–April 17, 1952 (43 days)
6		Camilo O. Osías	NP	April 17, 1952–April 30, 1952 (13 days)
7		Eulogio A. Rodriguez Sr.		April 30, 1952–April 17, 1953 (352 days)
—		Camilo O. Osias (second time)	LP	April 17, 1953–April 30, 1953 (323 days)
8		José C. Zulueta		April 30, 1953–November 30, 1953 (214 days)
—		Eulogio A. Rodriguez, Sr. (second time)	NP	November 30, 1953–April 5, 1963 (9 years, 126 days)
					Third
					Fourth
					Fifth
9		Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr.	LP	April 5, 1963–December 30, 1965 (2 years, 269 days)
NP
	10		Arturo M. Tolentino, Sr.	January 17, 1966–January 26, 1967 (1 year, 9 days)	Sixth
	11		Gil J. Puyat, Sr.	January 26, 1967–September 23, 1972 (5 years, 241 days)
					Seventh
The legislative functions of Congress were absorbed by the President from 1972 to 1978 when the unicameral Batasang Pambansa was formed during the Fourth Republic. For leaders of the Batasang Pambansa, see Speakers of the Batasang Pambansa. After the 1986 EDSA Revolution, the President held legislative powers until a restored bicameral Congress can be elected into office.						Fourth Republic
12		Jovito R. Salonga	LP	July 27, 1987–January 1, 1992 (4 years, 158 days)	Eighth	Fifth Republic
13		Neptali A. Gonzales, Sr.	LDP	January 1, 1992–January 18, 1993 (1 year, 17 days)
					Ninth
14		Edgardo J. Angara		January 18, 1993–August 28, 1995 (2 years, 227 days)
					Tenth
—		Neptali A. Gonzales, Sr. (second time)		August 29, 1995–October 10, 1996 (1 year, 42 days)
15		Ernesto M. Maceda, Sr.	NPC	October 10, 1996–January 26, 1998 (1 year, 108 days)
—		Neptali A. Gonzales, Sr. (third time)	LDP	January 26, 1998–June 30, 1998 (155 days)
16		Marcelo B. Fernan		July 27, 1998–June 28, 1999 (336 days)	Eleventh
17		Blas F. Ople	LAMMP	June 29, 1999–July 12, 2000 (1 year, 13 days)
18		Franklin M. Drilon	Independent	July 12, 2000–November 13, 2000 (124 days)
19		Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.	PDP-Laban	November 13, 2000–June 30, 2001 (229 days)
–		Franklin M. Drilon (second time)	Independent	July 23, 2001–July 24, 2006 (5 years, 1 day)	Twelfth
–			LP
					Thirteenth
20		Manuel B. Villar, Jr.	NP	July 24, 2006–November 17, 2008 (2 years, 116 days)
					Fourteenth
21		Juan Ponce Enrile, Sr.	PMP	November 17, 2008–June 5, 2013 (4 years, 200 days)
					Fifteenth
—		Franklin M. Drilon (third time)	LP	July 22, 2013–June 30, 2016 (2 years, 344 days)	Sixteenth
22		Aquilino Martin L. Pimentel III	PDP-Laban	July 25, 2016–May 21, 2018 (1 year, 300 days)	Seventeenth
23		Vicente C. Sotto III	NPC	May 21, 2018–present (2 years, 86 days)
					Eighteenth

Birth

Birth order	Senate President	Birthdate	Birth name	Century	Order of office	Birthplace
1	Manuel L. Quezon, Sr.	(1878-08-19)August 19, 1878	Manuel Luis Quezón y Molina	19th	1	Aurora, Aurora
2	Eulogio A. Rodriguez, Sr	(1883-01-23)January 23, 1883	Eulogio Adona Rodríguez		7	Montalban, Manila
3	Quintin Paredes	(1884-09-09)September 9, 1884	Quinttin Pafredes y babila		5	Bangued, Abra
4	Mariano Jesús Cuenco	(1888-01-16)January 16, 1888	Mariano Jesús Diosomito Cuenco		4	Carmen, Cebu
5	Camilo O. Osias	(1889-03-23)March 23, 1889	Casmilo Osias y Olaviano		6	Balaoan, La Union
6	José Zulueta	(1890-05-03)May 3, 1890	Jose Zulueta y Castel		8	Molo, Iloilo
7	José Avelino	(1890-08-05)August 5, 1890	José Dira Avelino		3	Calbayog, Samar
8	Manuel A. Roxas, Sr.	(1892-01-01)January 1, 1892	Manuel Róxas y Acuña		2	Iba, Zambales
9	Gil J. Puyat, Sr.	(1907-03-01)March 1, 1907	Gil Juco Puyat	20th	11	Manila
10	Arturo M. Tolentino, Sr.	(1910-09-19)September 19, 1910	Arturo Modesto Tolentino		10	Manila
11	Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.	(1917-09-11)September 11, 1917	Ferdinand Emmanuel Marcos y Edralin		9	Sarrat, Ilocos Norte
12	Jovito Salonga	(1920-06-22)June 22, 1920	Jovito Reyes Salonga		12	Pasig, Rizal
13	Neptali A. Gonzales , Sr.	(1923-06-10)June 10, 1923	Neptali Álvaro Gonzales		13	San Felipe Neri, Rizal
14	Juan Ponce Enrile	(1924-02-14)February 14, 1924	Juan Furagganan Ponce Enrile		21	Gonzaga, Cagayan
15	Marcelo Fernan	(1926-10-24)October 24, 1926	Marcelo Briones Fernan		16	Cebu City
16	Blas Ople	(1927-02-03)February 3, 1927	Blas Fajardo Ople		17	Hagonoy, Bulacan
17	Aquilino Pimentel, Jr.	(1933-12-11)December 11, 1933	Aquilino Quilinging Pimentel Jr.		19	Claveria, Misamis Oriental
18	Edgardo Angara	(1934-09-24)September 24, 1934	Edgardo Javier Angara		14	Aurora, Aurora
19	Ernesto Maceda	(1935-03-26)March 26, 1935	Ernesto Madarang Maceda		15	Pagsanjan, Laguna
20	Franklin Drilon	(1945-11-28)November 28, 1945	Franklin Magtunao Frilon		18	Iloilo City, Iloilo
21	Tito Sotto	(1948-08-24)August 24, 1948	Vicente Castelo Sotto III		23	Manila
22	Manuel Villar	(1949-12-13)December 13, 1949	Manuel Bamba Villar, Jr.		20	Manila
23	Aquilino Pimentel III	(1964-01-20)January 20, 1964	Aquilino Martin de la Llana Pimentel III		19	Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental

Death

OD	OO	Senate President	Term	Date of Death	Cause of Death	Age at Death	Place of Death	Place of Burial	Century
1	1	Manuel Luis Quezon, Sr.[4]|	1916 - 1935	August 1, 1944	Tuberculosis	65 years, 348 days	Saranac Lake, New York	Arlington Memorial Cemetery (1944-1949) re interred at Manila North Cemetery in 1949 Moved to Quezon Memorial Circle in 1978	20th
2	2	Manuel A. Roxas, Sr.[5]	1945 - 1946	April 15, 1948	Heart Atatck	56 years, 105 days	Clark Air Base	Manila North Cemetery
3	4	Mariano Jesus D. Cuenco	1949 - 1951	February 25, 1964		76 years, 40 days	Manila	Manila North Cemetery
4	7	Eulogio A. Rodrigez, Sr.	1952 - 1953 1953 - 1963	December 18, 1964	Unknown Cause	81 years, 330 days		Unknown
5	5	Quintin B. Paredes	1952	January 30, 1973		88 years, 143 days	Manila
6	6	Camilo O. Osias	1953	May 20, 1976		87 years, 58 days	Metro Manila	Unknown
7	8	José C. Zulueta	1953	August 15, 1972		83 years, 104 days
8	11	Gil J. Puyat, Sr.	1967–1972	March 22, 1981	Cardiac arrest	74 years, 21 days		Loyola Memorial Park
9	3	José D, Avelino	1946–1949	July 21, 1986		95 years, 350 days
10	9	Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr.	1962–1965	September 28, 1989	Multiple organ failure	72 years, 11 days	Honolulu, Hawaii	Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center (until 2016); Libingan ng mga Bayani
11	16	Marcelo B. Fernán.	1998–1999	July 11, 1999	Cancer	72 years, 260 days	Manila	Cebu City
12	13	Neptali A. Gonzales I	1992–1993 1995–1996 1998	September 16, 2001	Cancer	78 years, 98 days			21st
13	17	Blas F. Ople	1999–2000	December 14, 2003		76 years, 314 days
14	10	Arturo M. Tolentino	1965–1967	August 2, 2004	Heart attack	93 years, 318 days		Libingan ng mga Bayani
15	12	Jovito R. Salonga	1987–1992	March 10, 2016	Cardiac arrest	95 years, 262 days
16	15	Ernesto M. Maceda	1996–1998	June 20, 2016	Multiple organ failure	81 years, 86 days		Loyola Memorial Park
17	14	Edgardo J. Angara	1993–1995	May 13, 2018	Heart Attack	83 years, 234 days		Baler, Aurora
18	19	Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.	2000–2001	October 20, 2019	Lymphoma	85 years, 313 days

Longevity

OL	OO	Senate President	Date of Birth	Date of Death	Age	Longevity
1	21	Juan Ponce Enrile	February 14, 1924	Living	96 years, 183 days	35,247 days
2	3	José Avelino	August 5, 1890	July 21, 1986	95 years, 350 days	35,048 days
3	12	Jovito Salonga	June 22, 1920	March 10, 2016	95 years, 262 days	34,960 days
4	13	Arturo Tolentino	September 19, 1910	August 5, 2004	93 years, 321 days	34,289 days
5	5	Quintin Paredes	September 1, 1884	January 30, 1973	88 years, 151 days	32,292 days
6	6	Camilo Osias	March 23, 1889	May 20, 1976	87 years, 58 days	31,834 days
7	19	Aquilino Pimentel, Jr.	December 11, 1933	October 20, 2019	85 years, 313 days	31,359 days
8	10	José Zulueta	November 23, 1889	December 6, 1972	83 years, 13 days	30,646 days
9	14	Edgardo Angara	September 24, 1934	May 16, 2018	83 years, 234 days	30,328 days
10	7	Eulogio Rodriguez	January 23, 1883	December 18, 1964	81 years, 330 days	29,914 days
11	15	Ernesto Maceda	March 26, 1935	June 20, 2016	81 years, 86 days	29,672 days
12	4	Mariano Jesús Cuenco	January 16, 1884	February 25, 1964	80 years, 40 days	29,259 days
13	13	Neptali Gonzales	June 10, 1923	September 16, 2001	78 years, 98 days	28,588 days
14	17	Blas Ople	October 24, 1926	December 14, 2003	77 years, 51 days	28,175 days
15	18	Franklin Drilon	November 29, 1945	Living	74 years, 261 days	27,289 days
16	11	Gil Puyat	March 1, 1907	March 22, 1981	74 years, 21 days	27,050 days
17	16	Marcelo Fernán	October 24, 1926	July 11, 1999	72 years, 260 days	26,558 days
18	9	Ferdinand Marcos[6]	September 11, 1917	September 28, 1989	72 years, 17 days	26,315 days
19	23	Tito Sotto	August 24, 1948	Living	71 years, 357 days	26,289 days
20	20	Manuel Villar	December 23, 1949	Living	70 years, 236 days	25,803 days
21	1	Manuel L. Quezon[7]	August 19, 1878	August 1, 1944	65 years, 348 days	24,088 days
22	7	Manuel Roxas[8]	January 1, 1892	April 15, 1948	56 years, 105 days	20,558 days
23	22	Koko Pimentel	January 20, 1964	Living	56 years, 208 days	20,662 days

[9]

Oldest Living Senate Presdents

Senate President	Date of Birth	Became Oldest living	Age	Time as Oldest Living	Date of Death	Age	Longevity
Manuel L. Quezon[10]	August 19, 1878	August 25, 1916	38 years, 6 days	27 years, 342 days	August 1, 1944	65 years, 348 days	24,088 days
Eulogio Rodriguez	January 23, 1883	August 1, 1944	61 years, 187 days	20 years, 127 days	December 18, 1964	81 years, 330 days	29,914 days
Quintin Paredes	September 1, 1884	December 18, 1964	80 years, 108 days	8 years, 16 days	January 30, 1973	88 years, 151 days	32,292 days
Camilo Osias	March 23, 1889	January 30, 1973	83 years, 313 days	3 years, 138 days	May 20, 1976	87 years, 58 days	31,834 days
José Avelino	August 5, 1890	May 20, 1976	85 years, 289 days	10 years, 62 days	July 21, 1986	95 years, 350 days	35,048 days
Arturo Tolentino	September 19, 1910	July 21, 1986	75 years, 305 days	18 years, 15 days	August 5, 2004	93 years, 321 days	34,289 days
Jovito Salonga	June 22, 1920	August 5, 2004	84 years, 44 days	11 years, 226 days	March 10, 2016	95 years, 262 days	34,960 days
Juan Ponce Enrile	February 14, 1924	March 18, 2016	92 years, 33 days	4 years, 150 days	Living	96 years, 183 days	35,247 days
Senate President	Date of Birth	Became Oldest living	Age	Time as Oldest Living	Date of Death	Age	Longevity

[11]

Living former Senate presidents

As of August 2020, there are Five living former Senate President. The most recent Senate President to die was the 85-year-old Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. (2000–2001) on October 20, 2019.

Senate President	Tenure	Date of birth	Age (Longevity)
Franklin Drilon	2000 2001–2006 2013–2016	(1945-11-28)November 28, 1945	74 years, 261 days (27,289 days)
Manny Villar	2006–2008	(1949-12-23)December 23, 1949	70 years, 236 days (25,803 days)
Juan Ponce Enrile	2008–2013	(1924-02-14)February 14, 1924	96 years, 183 days (35,247 days)
Aquilino Pimentel III	2001–2010	(1964-01-20)January 20, 1964	56 years, 208 days (20,662 days)

[12]

Timeline

Sources

• List of Senators of the Philippines
• Roll of Senate Presidents

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.
4. "Manuel L. Quezon | Presidential Museum and Library". Retrieved 2019-01-11.
5. "Manuel Roxas". Presidential Museum and Library. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
6. "Ferdinand E. Marcos | Presidential Museum and Library". Retrieved 2019-01-11.
7. "Manuel L. Quezon | Presidential Museum and Library". Retrieved 2019-01-11.
8. "Manuel Roxas". Presidential Museum and Library. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
9. Updated daily according to UTC.
10. "Manuel L. Quezon | Presidential Museum and Library". Retrieved 2019-01-11.
11. Updated daily according to UTC.
12. Updated daily according to UTC.