List of vice presidents of the Philippines facts for kids
The vice president of the Philippines is the second most important leader in the government of the Philippines. The people directly choose the vice president in an election. They serve for six years. The vice president can also be a member of the President's team (called the Cabinet) without needing special approval. If something happens to the President, the vice president is the first person to take over.
The current vice president is Sara Duterte. She started her job on June 30, 2022.
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How the Vice President's Role Began
The idea of having a vice president started with the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines. This important document said that people would vote directly for their vice president.
During the time when the Philippines was under American rule (the Commonwealth of the Philippines), there were vice presidents. However, there was no vice president during the Second Philippine Republic, which was a government controlled by Japan during World War II.
Later, from 1972 to 1981, when Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, the job of vice president was removed. The vice president at that time, Fernando Lopez, lost his position. Even though the 1973 Constitution first didn't include a vice president, changes were made later to bring the role back.
After the 1986 Philippine presidential election, Marcos and Arturo Tolentino were announced as winners. However, the People Power Revolution in 1986 ended Marcos's rule. The 1973 Constitution was also cancelled. In 2013, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines decided that Arturo Tolentino is not officially counted as a vice president.
The 1987 Constitution was then created. It clearly states: "There shall be a vice-president who shall have the same qualifications and term of office and be elected with, and in the same manner, as the president."
Filling a Vacancy in the Vice President's Office
Before the 1987 Constitution, if the vice president's job became empty before the next election, there was no way to choose a new one. But after 1987, if the vice president's position becomes empty, the President can suggest someone from the Congress. Both parts of Congress then vote separately to approve the person.
In 2001, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became president after the Supreme Court of the Philippines decided that President Joseph Estrada had resigned. A few days later, she chose Teofisto Guingona to be the vice president. Guingona is the only person who became vice president without being elected by the people first.
Vice Presidents Who Became President
Three vice presidents have become president because the president they served under passed away:
- Sergio Osmeña in 1944
- Elpidio Quirino in 1948
- Carlos P. Garcia in 1957
Fernando Lopez served the longest as vice president, for almost 11 years in total. Elpidio Quirino served the shortest time, for about 1 year and 11 months.
Official Vice Presidents of the Philippines
| No. | Portrait | Name (Lifespan)
|
Term | Party/Coalition | Election | President | Era | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Sergio Osmeña (1869–1964) |
November 15, 1935 – August 1, 1944 (9 years, 106 days) |
Nacionalista | 1935 | Manuel L. Quezon (Nacionalista) |
Commonwealth | ||
| 1941 | |||||||||
| Office vacant (August 1, 1944 – May 28, 1946) | Sergio Osmeña (Nacionalista) |
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| 2 |  |
Elpidio Quirino (1890–1956) |
May 28, 1946 – April 17, 1948 (1 year, 323 days) |
Liberal | 1946 | Manuel Roxas (Liberal) |
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| Third Republic | |||||||||
| Office vacant (April 17, 1948 – December 30, 1949) | Elpidio Quirino (Liberal) |
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| 3 | .jpg) |
Fernando Lopez (1904–1993) |
December 30, 1949 – December 30, 1953 (4 years) |
Liberal (until 1953) |
1949 | ||||
| Democratic (from 1953) |
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| 4 |  |
Carlos P. Garcia (1896–1971) |
December 30, 1953 – March 17, 1957 (3 years, 77 days) |
Nacionalista | 1953 | Ramon Magsaysay (Nacionalista) |
|||
| Office vacant (March 17, 1957 – December 30, 1957) | Carlos P. Garcia (Nacionalista) |
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| 5 |  |
Diosdado Macapagal (1910–1997) |
December 30, 1957 – December 30, 1961 (4 years) |
Liberal | 1957 | ||||
| 6 | .jpg) |
Emmanuel Pelaez (1915–2003) |
December 30, 1961 – December 30, 1965 (4 years) |
Liberal | 1961 | Diosdado Macapagal (Liberal) |
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| Nacionalista (from 1964) |
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| 7 | |
Fernando Lopez (1904–1993) |
December 30, 1965 – January 17, 1973 (7 years, 18 days) |
Nacionalista | 1965 | Ferdinand Marcos (Nacionalista, later KBL) |
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| 1969 | |||||||||
| Martial Law | |||||||||
| Office abolished (January 17, 1973 – January 27, 1984) | |||||||||
| Fourth Republic | |||||||||
| Office vacant (January 27, 1984 – February 25, 1986) | |||||||||
| 8 |  |
Salvador Laurel (1928–2004) |
February 25, 1986 – June 30, 1992 (6 years, 126 days) |
UNIDO (until 1988) |
1986 | Corazon Aquino (UNIDO, later Independent) |
Provisional Government | ||
| Fifth Republic | |||||||||
| Nacionalista (from 1988) |
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| 9 |  |
Joseph Estrada (born 1937) |
June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1998 (6 years) |
NPC (until 1997) |
1992 | Fidel V. Ramos (Lakas) |
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| LAMMP (from 1997) |
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| 10 | .jpg) |
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (born 1947) |
June 30, 1998 – January 20, 2001 (2 years, 204 days) |
Lakas | 1998 | Joseph Estrada (LAMMP) |
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| Office vacant (January 20 – February 7, 2001) | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (Lakas, later Lakas–Kampi) |
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| 11 |  |
Teofisto Guingona Jr. (born 1928) |
February 7, 2001 – June 30, 2004 (3 years, 144 days) |
Lakas (until 2003) |
2001 | ||||
| Independent (from 2003) |
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| 12 |  |
Noli de Castro (born 1949) |
June 30, 2004 – June 30, 2010 (6 years) |
Independent | 2004 | ||||
| 13 |  |
Jejomar Binay (born 1942) |
June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2016 (6 years) |
PDP–Laban (until 2012) |
2010 | Benigno Aquino III (Liberal) |
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| UNA (from 2012) |
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| 14 | .jpg) |
Leni Robredo (born 1965) |
June 30, 2016 – June 30, 2022 (6 years) |
Liberal | 2016 | Rodrigo Duterte (PDP–Laban) |
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| 15 |  |
Sara Duterte (born 1978) |
June 30, 2022 – present (3 years, 58 days) |
Lakas (until 2023) |
2022 | Bongbong Marcos (PFP) |
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| Hugpong ng Pagbabago | |||||||||
Timeline of Vice Presidents
Unofficial Vice Presidents
Some historians and others have identified people who held the vice presidency in governments that aimed to represent the Philippines. However, the Philippine government does not officially count their terms as part of the presidential line.
For example, whether Mariano Trías should be on the list is debated. He was chosen as vice president at the Tejeros Convention and again for the short-lived Republic of Biak-na-Bato. This republic ended after a peace agreement was signed, and Emilio Aguinaldo went into exile. When Aguinaldo returned and the revolution continued in 1898, and when the First Philippine Republic was formed in 1899, these governments did not have a vice president.
| Portrait | Name (Lifespan) |
Term | Party | Election | President | Era | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Mariano Trías (1868–1914) |
March 22, 1897 – January 23, 1899 (1 year, 307 days) |
None | 1897 | Emilio Aguinaldo (Nonpartisan) |
Tejeros Convention | ||
| – | Republic of Biak-na-Bato | |||||||
 |
Francisco Carreón (1868–1939/1941) |
May 6, 1902 – July 14, 1906 (3 years, 296 days) |
None | – | Macario Sakay (Katipunan) |
Tagalog Republic | ||
 |
Ramón Avanceña (1872–1957) |
October 14, 1943 – January 15, 1944 (93 days) |
KALIBAPI | – | Jose P. Laurel (KALIBAPI) |
Second Republic | ||
 |
Benigno Aquino Sr. (1894–1947) |
January 15, 1944 – August 17, 1945 (1 year, 272 days) |
KALIBAPI | – | ||||
|
Ramón Avanceña (1872–1957) |
December 30, 1948 – December 30, 1949 (1 year, 0 days) |
Liberal | – | Elpidio Quirino (Liberal) |
Third Republic | ||
Vice Presidents Who Later Became President
| Vice president | President served under | Year(s) served | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sergio Osmeña | Manuel L. Quezon | 1935–1944 | Osmeña became president after Quezon passed away. |
| Elpidio Quirino | Manuel Roxas | 1946–1948 | Quirino became president after Roxas passed away. He then ran and won a full term in 1949. |
| Carlos P. Garcia | Ramon Magsaysay | 1953–1957 | Garcia became president after Magsaysay passed away. He then ran and won a full term in 1957. |
| Diosdado Macapagal | Carlos P. Garcia | 1957–1961 | Macapagal won against Garcia in the 1961 election. |
| Joseph Estrada | Fidel V. Ramos | 1992–1998 | Estrada ran for and won a full term as president in 1998. |
| Gloria Macapagal Arroyo | Joseph Estrada | 1998–2001 | Arroyo became president after Estrada resigned during the Second EDSA Revolution. She then ran and won a full term in 2004. |
See also
- President of the Philippines
- List of presidents of the Philippines
- Prime Minister of the Philippines (this job no longer exists)
