President of the Senate of the Philippines facts for kids

Quick facts for kids President of the Senate of the Philippines
Flag of the Senate
Seal of the Senate
Incumbent Francis Escudero since May 20, 2024
Style	Mr. President (informal; within the Senate) The Honorable (formal) His Excellency (formal, diplomatic)
Member of	Senate of the Philippines National Security Council Commission on Appointments
Reports to	Senate of the Philippines
Seat	GSIS Building, Pasay
Appointer	The Senate
Term length	At the Senate's pleasure
Inaugural holder	Manuel L. Quezon
Formation	October 16, 1916
Succession	Second
Website	Senate

The President of the Senate of the Philippines is a very important leader in the Philippine government. This person is also called the Senate President. They are the main officer and highest-ranking official of the Senate of the Philippines. The Senate is like one of the two main groups that make laws in the country.

The Senate President is the third most powerful official in the entire government. They are chosen by all the other members of the Senate to be their leader. If something happens to the President or Vice President, the Senate President is next in line to become President. This is called the line of succession.

The current Senate President is Francis Escudero. He was chosen for this role on May 20, 2024.

Choosing the Senate President

The Senate President is chosen by the senators themselves. To win, a senator needs more than half of the votes from all 24 senators. This means they need at least 13 votes. This count includes any empty seats or senators who are not there.

Usually, a new Senate President is chosen at the start of each new Congress. However, sometimes the senators decide to change their leader in the middle of a term. This has happened many times. Sometimes, senators even agree to share the position. This means one person leads for a while, then another takes over smoothly. This happened in 1999 and 2006.

The Senate President of the Philippines has a lot of power. They can greatly influence which laws the Senate works on. They can also vote on laws. If there is a tie vote, the Senate President usually votes last. If their vote still results in a tie, the motion (the idea for a law) does not pass.

What the Senate President Does

The rules of the Senate explain the main jobs of the Senate President. Here are some of their important duties:

• They lead the Senate meetings at the right times.
• They make sure meetings follow the rules.
• They sign all new laws and official documents.
• They make sure all Senate decisions are followed.
• They are in charge of the Senate hall and offices.
• They keep order during Senate sessions. If there is a problem, they take action to fix it.
• They can choose a temporary sergeant-at-arms (an officer who helps keep order) if needed.
• They hire staff for the Senate, following government rules.
• They can fire employees if there's a good reason.
• They can change the number of staff members if allowed by law.

The Senate President is also the leader of the Commission on Appointments. This is a special group in Congress. It has the power to approve or reject people the President chooses for important government jobs. As the chairman of this commission, the Senate President:

• Calls meetings for the commission.
• Leads these meetings.
• Keeps order during the meetings.
• Makes decisions on rule questions. Other members can question these decisions.
• Carries out the decisions made by the commission.

If a high-ranking official, like the Ombudsman, faces an impeachment trial (a process to remove them from office), the Senate President leads the trial. They are also the last person to vote on whether the official should be removed. This is according to the Senate's rules for impeachment trials.

In the Senate, the President also oversees the different committees. They can attend committee meetings if necessary. Reports from these committees are sent to their office.

Past Senate Presidents

All senators from 1941 onwards were elected by voters from all over the Philippines.

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Party		Legislature
			Took office	Left office
1		Manuel L. Quezon Member for the 5th Senatorial District (1878–1944)	November 1916	November 15, 1935		Nacionalista	4th Legislature
							5th Legislature
						Nacionalista Colectivista	6th Legislature
						Nacionalista	7th Legislature
							8th Legislature
							9th Legislature
						Nacionalista Democratico	10th Legislature
–		Sergio Osmeña (1878–1961) Acting	1930	1930		Nacionalista	8th Legislature
–		José Clarín (1879–1935) Acting	1932	1933		Nacionalista	9th Legislature
The Senate and the House of Representatives were combined into one group called the National Assembly in 1935. This was during the Commonwealth period. The National Assembly was later replaced by two groups (bicameral) in 1940. The first election for the Senate was in November 1941. But because of World War II, the new Congress did not meet until 1945. For the leaders of the National Assembly, see Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.
2		Manuel Roxas (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
The President of the Philippines took over lawmaking from 1972 to 1978. Then, a single-chamber group called the Batasang Pambansa was formed. After the 1986 EDSA Revolution, the President again held lawmaking powers until a two-chamber Congress was elected. For the leaders of the Batasang Pambansa, see Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines.
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, 1996		LDP
15		Ernesto Maceda (1935–2016)	October 10, 1996	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	May 20, 2024		Independent	19th Congress
25		Francis Escudero (born 1969)	May 20, 2024	Incumbent		NPC

Timeline of Senate Presidents