President of the Senate of the Philippines

President of the Senate of the Philippines
Incumbent Juan Ponce Enrile since November 17, 2008
Style	The Honorable
Appointer	Elected by the Senate of the Philippines
Inaugural holder	Manuel L. Quezon
Formation	October 16, 1916
Website	Senate

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The President of the Senate of the Philippines, or more popularly known as the Senate President, is the presiding officer and the highest ranking-official of the Senate of the Philippines. He/she is elected by the entire body to be their leader. The current Senate President is Juan Ponce Enrile.

The Senate President is second in line in succession for the presidency, behind the Vice President and in front of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Manner of election

The Senate President is elected by the majority of the members of the Senate; since there are 24 senators, thirteen 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 president is unseated in the middle of session.

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

According to the Rules of the Senate, the Senate President has the power to:

(a) 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;

(b) To decide all points of order;

(c) To sign all measures, memorials, joint and concurrent resolutions; issue warrants, orders of arrest, subpoena and subpoena duces tecum;

(d) To see to it that all resolutions of the Senate are complied with;

(e) To have general control over the session hall, the antechambers, corridors and offices of the Senate;

(f) 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;

(g) To designate an Acting Sergeant-at-Arms, if the Sergeant-at-Arms resigns, is replaced or becomes incapacitated;

(h) To appoint the subordinate personnel of the Senate in conformity with the provisions of the General Appropriations Act;

(i) 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

(j) 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. 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.

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.

  Independent

  Nacionalista

  Liberal

  Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP)

  Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC)

  Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (LAMMP/PMP)

  Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban)

#	Senate President		Party	Legislature	Start of service	End of service	Era
1		Manuel L. Quezon	NP	4th PL	1916	1919	Jones Law
				5th PL	1919	1922
				6th PL	1922	1925
				7th PL	1925	1928
				8th PL	1928	1931
				9th PL	1931	1934
				10th PL	1934	1935
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 leaders of the National Assembly, see Speakers of the National Assembly.							Commonwealth
2		Manuel Roxas	NP-Liberal Wing	1st CC	July 9, 1945	May 25, 1946
3		José Avelino	LP	2nd CC	May 25, 1946	July 4, 1946
				1st	July 5, 1946	February 21, 1949	Third Republic
4		Mariano Jesús Cuenco			February 21, 1949	December 30, 1949
			LP	2nd	December 30, 1949	December 30, 1951
5		Quintin Paredes			March 5, 1952	April 17, 1952
6		Camilo Osías	NP		April 17, 1952	April 30, 1952
7		Eulogio Rodriguez			April 30, 1952	April 17, 1953
8		Camilo Osías (2nd time)	LP		April 17, 1953	April 30, 1953
9		Jose Zulueta			April 30, 1953	November 30, 1953
10		Eulogio Rodriguez (2nd time)	NP		November 30, 1953	December 30, 1953
				3rd	January 25, 1954	December 30, 1957
				4th	January 27, 1958	December 30, 1961
				5th	January 22, 1962	April 5, 1963
11		Ferdinand E. Marcos	LP		April 5, 1963	April 1964
			NP		April 1964	December 30, 1965
12		Arturo M. Tolentino	NP	6th	January 17, 1966	January 26, 1967
13		Gil Puyat			January 26, 1967	December 30, 1969
				7th	January 26, 1970	September 23, 1972
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
14		Jovito Salonga	LP	8th	July 27, 1987	January 1, 1992	Fifth Republic
15		Neptali Gonzales	LDP		January 1, 1992	June 30, 1992
				9th	July 27, 1992	January 18, 1993
16		Edgardo Angara			January 18, 1993	June 30, 1995
				10th	July 24, 1995	August 28, 1995
17		Neptali Gonzales (2nd time)			August 29, 1995	October 10, 1996
18		Ernesto Maceda	NPC		October 10, 1996	January 26, 1998
19		Neptali Gonzales (3rd time)	LDP		January 26, 1998	June 30, 1998
20		Marcelo Fernan		11th	July 27, 1998	June 28, 1999
21		Blas Ople	LAMMP		June 29, 1999	July 12, 2000
22		Franklin Drilon			July 12, 2000	November 13, 2000
23		Aquilino Pimentel	PDP-LABAN		November 13, 2000	June 30, 2001
24		Franklin Drilon (2nd time)	Independent	12th	July 23, 2001	November 24, 2003
			LP		November 24, 2003	June 30, 2004
				13th	July 24, 2004	July 24, 2006
25		Manny Villar	NP		July 24, 2006	June 30, 2007
				14th	July 23, 2007	November 17, 2008
26		Juan Ponce Enrile	PMP		November 17, 2008	June 30, 2010
				15th	July 26, 2010	Incumbent

Timeline

The GSIS Building which houses the Senate of the Philippines

Living former Senate Presidents

Currently there are six living former Senate Presidents:

• Living Former Senate Presidents
• 

  Jovito Salonga (LP), served 1987-1992

• 

  Edgardo Angara (LDP), served 1993-1995

• 

  Ernesto Maceda (NPC), served 1996-1998

• 

  Franklin Drilon (LP), served 2000, 2001-2006

• 

  Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban), served 2000-2001

• 

  Manny Villar (NP), served 2006-2008

Sources

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