List of presidents of the Philippines facts for kids
Under the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, the president of the Philippines (Filipino: [pangulo ng Pilipinas] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) is both the head of state and the head of government, and serves as the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces. The president is directly elected by qualified voters to a six-year term and must be "a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding such election". Any person who has served as president for more than six years is barred from eligibility. Upon resignation, or removal from office, the vice president assumes the post.
History
Emilio Aguinaldo became the inaugural president of the Philippines under the Malolos Republic, considered the First Philippine Republic. He held that office until 1901 when he was captured by United States forces during the Philippine–American War (1899–1902). The American colonization of the Philippines abolished the First Republic, which led to an American governor-general exercising executive power.
In 1935, the United States, pursuant to its promise of full Philippine sovereignty, established the Commonwealth of the Philippines following the ratification of the 1935 Constitution, which also restored the presidency. The first national presidential election was held, and Manuel L. Quezon (1935–44) was elected to a six-year term, with no provision for re-election, as the second Philippine president and the first Commonwealth president. In 1940, however, the Constitution was amended to allow re-election but shortened the term to four years. A change in government occurred three years later when the Second Philippine Republic was organized with the enactment of the 1943 Constitution, which Japan imposed after it occupied the Philippines in 1942 during World War II. José P. Laurel acted as puppet president of the new Japanese-sponsored government; his de facto presidency, not legally recognized until the 1960s, overlapped with that of the president of the Commonwealth, which went into exile. The Second Republic was dissolved after Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945; the Commonwealth was restored in the Philippines in the same year with Sergio Osmeña (1944–46) as president.
Manuel Roxas (1946–1948) followed Osmeña when he won the first post-war election in 1946. He became the first president of the independent Philippines when the Commonwealth ended on July 4 of that year. The Third Republic was ushered in and would cover the administrations of the next five presidents, the last of which was Ferdinand Marcos (1965–86), who performed a self-coup by imposing martial law in 1972. The dictatorship of Marcos saw the birth of the New Society (Filipino: [Bagong Lipunan] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and the Fourth Republic. His tenure lasted until 1986 when he was deposed in the People Power Revolution. The current constitution came into effect in 1987, marking the beginning of the Fifth Republic.
Of the individuals elected as president, three died in office: two of natural causes (Manuel L. Quezon and Manuel Roxas) and one in a plane crash (Ramon Magsaysay, 1953–57). The longest-serving president is Ferdinand Marcos with 20 years and 57 days in office; he is the only president to have served more than two terms. The shortest is Sergio Osmeña, who spent 1 year and 300 days in office.
Two women have held the office: Corazon Aquino (1986–92), who ascended to the presidency upon the successful People Power Revolution of 1986, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001–10), who, as vice president, ascended to the presidency upon Estrada's resignation and was elected to a full six-year term in 2004.
Presidents
# | Portrait | Name (Lifespan) |
Party | Term | Election | Vice president | Era | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
|
Emilio Aguinaldo (1869–1964) |
None | January 23, 1899 – March 23, 1901
(2 years, 59 days) |
1899 | None | First Republic | |
None | August 14, 1898 – July 4, 1902
(3 years, 324 days) |
– | None | U.S. Military Government | ||||
July 4, 1901 – November 15, 1935
(34 years, 134 days) |
U.S. Insular Government | |||||||
2 |
|
Manuel L. Quezon (1878–1944) |
Nacionalista Party Nationalist Party |
November 15, 1935 – August 1, 1944
(8 years, 260 days) |
1935 | Sergio Osmeña | Commonwealth | |
1941 | ||||||||
3 |
|
Jose P. Laurel (1891–1959) |
KALIBAPI Association for Service to the New Philippines |
October 14, 1943 – August 17, 1945
(1 year, 307 days) |
1943 | None | Second Republic | |
4 |
|
Sergio Osmeña (1878–1961) |
Nacionalista Party Nationalist Party |
August 1, 1944 – May 28, 1946
(1 year, 300 days) |
1941 | Vacant | Commonwealth | |
5 |
|
Manuel Roxas (1892–1948) |
Liberal Party | May 28, 1946 – April 15, 1948
(1 year, 323 days) |
1946 | Elpidio Quirino | ||
Third Republic | ||||||||
6 |
|
Elpidio Quirino (1890–1956) |
Liberal Party | April 17, 1948 – December 30, 1953 (5 years, 257 days) |
Vacant | |||
1949 | Fernando Lopez | |||||||
7 |
|
Ramon Magsaysay (1907–1957) |
Nacionalista Party Nationalist Party |
December 30, 1953 – March 17, 1957
(3 years, 77 days) |
1953 | Carlos P. Garcia | ||
8 |
|
Carlos P. Garcia (1896–1971) |
Nacionalista Party Nationalist Party |
March 18, 1957 – December 30, 1961 (4 years, 287 days) |
Vacant | |||
1957 | Diosdado Macapagal | |||||||
9 |
|
Diosdado Macapagal (1910–1997) |
Liberal Party | December 30, 1961 – December 30, 1965
(4 years, 0 days) |
1961 | Emmanuel Pelaez | ||
10 |
|
Ferdinand Marcos (1917–1989) |
Nacionalista Party Nationalist Party |
December 30, 1965 – February 25, 1986 (20 years, 57 days) |
1965 | Fernando Lopez | ||
1969 | ||||||||
None | Marcos dictatorship | |||||||
1973 | ||||||||
1977 | ||||||||
New Society | ||||||||
Kilusang Bagong Lipunan New Society Movement |
1981 | Vacant | Fourth Republic | |||||
11 |
|
Corazon Aquino (1933–2009) |
United Nationalist Democratic Organization | February 25, 1986 – June 30, 1992 (6 years, 126 days) |
1986 | Salvador Laurel | Provisional Government | |
Independent | Fifth Republic | |||||||
12 |
|
Fidel V. Ramos (1928–2022) |
Lakas–NUCD People Power-National Union of Christian Democrats |
June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1998
(6 years, 0 days) |
1992 | Joseph Estrada | ||
13 |
|
Joseph Estrada (born 1937) |
Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino Struggle of the Patriotic Filipino Masses |
June 30, 1998 – January 20, 2001
(2 years, 204 days) |
1998 | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | ||
14 |
|
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (born 1947) |
Lakas–CMD People Power-Christian Muslim Democrats |
January 20, 2001 – June 30, 2010
(9 years, 161 days) |
Vacant | |||
Teofisto Guingona Jr. | ||||||||
2004 | Noli de Castro | |||||||
15 |
|
Benigno Aquino III (1960–2021) |
Liberal Party | June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2016
(6 years, 0 days) |
2010 | Jejomar Binay | ||
16 |
|
Rodrigo Duterte (born 1945) |
PDP–Laban Philippine Democratic Party-People's Power |
June 30, 2016 – June 30, 2022
(6 years, 0 days) |
2016 | Leni Robredo | ||
17 |
|
Bongbong Marcos (born 1957) |
Partido Federal ng Pilipinas Federal Party of the Philippines |
June 30, 2022 – incumbent
(1 year, 272 days) |
2022 | Sara Duterte |
Timeline
Unofficial presidents
Andrés Bonifacio is considered by some historians to be the first president of the Philippines. He was the third Supreme President (Spanish: Presidente Supremo; Tagalog: Kataastaasang Pangulo) of the Katipunan secret society. Its Supreme Council, led by the Supreme President, coordinated provincial and district councils. When the Katipunan went into open revolt in August 1896 (the Cry of Balintawak), Bonifacio transformed it into a revolutionary government with him as president. While the term Katipunan remained, Bonifacio's government was also known as the Tagalog Republic (Tagalog: Republika ng Katagalugan; Spanish: Republica Tagala). (Although the word Tagalog refers to a specific ethnicity, Bonifacio used it to denote all indigenous people in the Philippines in place of Filipino which had colonial origins.)
Some historians contend that including Bonifacio as a past president would imply that Macario Sakay and Miguel Malvar y Carpio should also be included. Miguel Malvar y Carpio continued Emilio Aguinaldo's leadership of the First Philippine Republic after the latter's capture until his own capture in 1902. Macario Sakay revived the Tagalog Republic in 1902 as a continuation of Bonifacio's Katipunan. They are both considered by some scholars as "unofficial presidents". Along with Bonifacio, Malvar and Sakay are not recognized as presidents by the Philippine government.
Emilio Aguinaldo is officially recognized as the first president of the Philippines, but this is based on his term of office during the Malolos Republic, later known as the First Philippine Republic. Prior to this Aguinaldo had held the presidency of several revolutionary governments which are not counted in the succession of Philippine republics.
Manuel L. Quezon delegated his presidential duties to José Abad Santos, the then Chief Justice, when the former fled the Philippines amidst Japanese occupation of the islands to establish a government-in-exile. He is believed to have in effect become the acting president of the Philippine Commonwealth though no legal document has been retrieved detailing the official transfer of the title of President to Abad Santos.
List
Portrait | Name Lifespan |
Party | Term | Vice President | Government | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | ||||||
|
Andres Bonifacio (1863–1897) |
None | August 24, 1896 | March 22, 1897 or May 10, 1897 |
None | Sovereign Tagalog Nation | |
|
Emilio Aguinaldo (1869–1964) |
None | March 22, 1897 | November 1, 1897 | Mariano Trias | Tejeros revolutionary government | |
November 2, 1897 | December 14, 1897 | Republic of Biak-na-Bato | |||||
May 24, 1898 | June 23, 1898 | Dictatorial Government | |||||
June 23, 1898 | January 23, 1899 | Revolutionary Government | |||||
Francisco Makabulos (1871 – 1922) |
None | April 17, 1898 | May 19, 1898 | None | Central Executive Committee | ||
Miguel Malvar (1865–1911) |
None | April 1, 1901 | April 16, 1902 | None | First Republic | ||
|
Macario Sakay (1870–1907) |
Katipunan (holdout/revival) |
May 6, 1902 | July 14, 1906 | Francisco Carreón | Tagalog Republic | |
|
José Abad Santos (1886 –1942) |
Independent | March 17, 1942 | May 2, 1942 | None | Commonwealth | |
|
Jorge Bartolome Vargas (1890–1980) |
KALIBAPI Association for Service to the New Philippines |
January 23, 1942 | October 14, 1943 | None | Philippine Executive Commission | |
|
Arturo Tolentino (1910 –2004) |
Kilusang Bagong Lipunan New Society Movement |
July 6, 1986 | July 8, 1986 | None | Fourth Republic |
Timeline
See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Presidentes de Filipinas para niños