Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines

Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
	Incumbent; Feliciano Belmonte, Jr.; since July 22, 2013
Style	The Honorable; (Diplomatic); Mr. Speaker; (Within the House)
Appointer	Elected by the Philippine House of Representatives
Inaugural holder	Sergio Osmeña
Formation	October 16, 1907
Website	Speaker of the House

The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines is the presiding officer of the lower house of Congress, the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by a majority of all of the representatives.

The Speaker is the third and last in line in succession for the presidency, after the President of the Senate of the Philippines, and Vice President of the Philippines.

A speaker may be removed from office by death or resignation. In some cases a Speaker may be compelled to resign at the middle of a Congress' session after he has lost support of the majority of congressmen; in that case, an election for a new speaker is held.

Despite being a partisan official, the speaker (or whoever is presiding) doesn't vote unless in breaking ties.

Election, duties and powers

When the office of the Speaker is vacant (usually at the beginning of a new Congress), the Secretary-General of the House sits as the Speaker until a person is elected. A speaker is usually elected via majority vote via roll call of the representatives, after nomination at the start of each new Congress. Usually, despite the current multi-party system used, only two representatives are nominated, with nominations being agreed upon before each Congress during caucuses between the administration and opposition coalitions, with the chosen candidate of the majority coalition being almost certain to win by a large margin. The two competing candidates by tradition vote for each other; those who voted for the speaker-elect is assigned as the "majority" coalition while those who didn't are the minority coalition, with the losing candidate usually being named as Minority Leader.

In the 2013 election, there were three candidates for the speakership. In this case, the candidates didn't vote for each other, and the second-placed candidate became Minority Leader and headed the minority bloc. The third-placed candidate became the leader of the "independent minority" bloc. Only the majority and minority blocs were given seats in committees. There was a chance that neither candidate would get a majority of votes; it is undetermined on what should be done if that happened.

'Duties and Powers of the Speaker.'

According to Section 15 of Rule 4 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the duties and powers of the Speaker as the political and administrative head of the House are as follows:

a.prepare the legislative agenda for every regular session, establish systems and procedures to ensure full deliberation and swift approval of measures included therein, and may, for the purpose, avail of the assistance of the Deputy Speakers, the Majority Leader, the Chairpersons of the standing committees and other Members of the House;

b. conduct regular monthly caucus of all Members or groups thereof or as often as may be necessary to discuss priority measures and to facilitate dialogue, consensus and action on issues and concerns affecting the House and the performance of its functions; c. exercise general supervision over all committees and, in furtherance thereof, conduct regular monthly meetings with the Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons of all standing and special committees to set legislative targets, review performance in the attainment of targets, ensure that the priority legislative measures of committees are attuned to the legislative agenda of the House, and resolve such other issues and concerns that affect the operations and performance of the committees;

d. as far as practicable, establish an efficient information management system in the House utilizing among others, modern digital technology, that can:

1. facilitate access to and dissemination of data and information needed in legislation inclusive of facilitating real time translation of plenary proceedings in the major Philippine dialects and languages;

2. provide a simplified and comprehensive process of gathering, recording, storage and retrieval of data and information relating to activities and proceedings of the House;

3.sustain a public information program that will provide accessible, timely and accurate information relating to the House, its Members and officers, its committees and its legislative concerns inclusive of facilitating, as far as practicable, broadcast coverage of plenary and committee proceedings;

e. establish an efficient and effective system to monitor and evaluate the performance of legislative tasks and duties of the House, its Members and its committees; f. establish coordinative linkages with the Senate of the Philippines to efficiently monitor and facilitate Senate action on House measures pending with the same; g. preside over the sessions of the House and decide all questions of order subject to appeal by any Member who may explain the appeal in not more than five (5) minutes: Provided, That the appeal shall not be subject to debate, and no explanation of vote shall be allowed in case of nominal voting;

h. designate a Member as temporary presiding officer after informing the Deputy Speakers: Provided, That any such designation shall be effective for one session day only; i. take appropriate measures as may be deemed advisable or as the House may direct, to preserve order and decorum in the session hall, the galleries, lobbies, chambers, offices, corridors and premises of the House; j. sign all acts, resolutions, memorials, writs, warrants and subpoenae that may be issued by or upon order of the House;

k. perform administrative functions such as, among others: k1. appointment of personnel of the House with authority to delegate this power;

k2. suspension, dismissal or imposition of other disciplinary measures on House personnel in accordance with Civil Service rules: Provided, That the suspension or dismissal of the Secretary General and the Sergeant-at-Arms shall take effect only upon the concurrence of the majority of all the Members;

k3. consolidation or splitting of vacant positions carrying salaries and wages which may be increased or reduced in the process, and/or creation of new positions in accordance with the General Appropriations Act: Provided, That the total amount involved shall not exceed the total amount appropriated for the salaries and wages of the personnel of the House; and

k4. implementation of merit-based policies and programs on personnel recruitment, training and development, promotions, incentives and benefits to ensure that the House has a corps of competent professionals able to provide needed legislative support services;

l. prepare the annual budget of the House with the assistance of the Committee on Accounts; m. in consultation with the Committee on Rules, prepare the rules and regulations governing public access to personal data and related information, including statements of assets and liabilities, of Members of the House;

n. in consultation with the Minority Leader, shall develop through an appropriate entity of the House a system for drug testing in the House of Representatives, which may provide for the testing of any Member, officer, or employee of the House, and otherwise shall be comparable in scope to the system for drug testing in the executive branch, Provided, That the expenses of the system may be paid from applicable accounts of the House for official expenses; and

o. require the submission of performance reports at the end of every regular session and fiscal year from the committee chairpersons, the Secretary General and the Sergeant-at-Arms, and such other reports as may be required from all concerned officers and offices of the House.

And according to Section 16 of the Rule 4 of the Rules of the House, the Speaker must " be the permanent head of delegation and representative of the House in all international parliamentary gatherings and organizations: Provided, that the Speaker may designate any Member to be the representative of the Speaker. The Speaker shall also determine, upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader, in consultation with the Chairperson of the Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Diplomacy, who shall constitute the House delegation to any international conference or forum of parliamentarians and legislators and the secretariat support staff to be mobilized for the purpose."

List of Speakers

Nacionalista

Liberal

KALIBAPI

KBL

LDP

Lakas/Lakas-Kampi

NPC

LAMP

In some lists that count only the Speakers of the House of Representatives, the Speakers of the Batasang Pambansa are excluded; in that case, subtract 2 from every number from Mitra onwards.

#		Party	District	Legislature	Start of service	End of service	Era
1	Sergio Osmeña	Nacionalista	Cebu	1st Legislature - 5th Legislature	1907	1922	American Insular Government
2	Manuel Roxas	Nacionalista	Capiz	6th Legislature - 9th Legislature	1922	1933
3	Quintin Paredes	Nacionalista	Abra	10th Legislature	1933	1935
4	Gil Montilla	Nacionalista	Negros Occidental	1st Assembly	November 25, 1935	December 30, 1938	Commonwealth
5	José Yulo	Nacionalista	Negros Occidental	2nd Assembly	January 24, 1939	December 30, 1941	Commonwealth
During the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the Commonwealth went into exile in the United States and the National Assembly was dissolved. It was replaced by the unrelated National Assembly of the Japanese-sponsored Second Republic.							Second Republic
6	Benigno Aquino, Sr.	KALIBAPI	Tarlac At-Large	National Assembly	October 17, 1943	February 2, 1944	Second Republic
After the liberation, the winners of the 1941 elections were finally able to assume their positions.							Commonwealth (Restored)
7	Jose Zulueta	Nacionalista Liberal wing	Iloilo-1st	1st Commonwealth Congress	June 9, 1945	December 20, 1945
After the restoration of the Commonwealth, new elections were held to elect new members of the House of Representatives.
8	Eugenio Pérez	Liberal	Pangasinan-2nd	2nd Commonwealth Congress	May 25, 1946	July 4, 1946
				1st Congress	July 5, 1946	December 30, 1949	Third Republic
				2nd Congress	December 30, 1949	December 30, 1953
9	José Laurel, Jr.	Nacionalista	Batangas-3rd	3rd Congress	January 25, 1954	December 30, 1957
10	Daniel Romualdez	Nacionalista	Leyte-4th	4th Congress	January 27, 1958	December 30, 1961
10	Daniel Romualdez	Nacionalista	Leyte-1st	5th Congress	January 22, 1962	March 9, 1962
11	Cornelio Villareal	Liberal	Capiz-2nd	5th Congress	March 9, 1962	December 30, 1965
11	Cornelio Villareal	Liberal	Capiz-2nd	6th Congress	January 17, 1966	February 2, 1967
12	José Laurel, Jr.	Nacionalista	Batangas-3rd	6th Congress	February 2, 1967	December 30, 1969
12	José Laurel, Jr.	Nacionalista	Batangas-3rd	7th Congress	January 26, 1970	April 1, 1971
13	Cornelio Villareal (2nd time)	Liberal	Capiz-2nd	7th Congress	April 1, 1971	September 23, 1972
Following the declaration of martial law, the sitting president, Ferdinand Marcos ruled by decree and possessed legislative power until the election of the Interim Batasang Pambansa in 1978. The Interim Batasang Pambansa was replaced the Regular Batasang Pambansa in 1984.							Second Dictatorship
14	Querube Makalintal	KBL	NCR	Interim Batasang Pambansa	June 12, 1978	June 30, 1984	Second Dictatorship
14	Querube Makalintal		NCR	Interim Batasang Pambansa	June 12, 1978	June 30, 1984	Fourth Republic
15	Nicanor Yñiguez		Southern Leyte	Regular Batasang Pambansa	July 23, 1984	March 25, 1986
After the People Power Revolution where Marcos was overthrown, president Corazon Aquino abolished the Regular Batasang Pambansa and ruled by decree (executive order and proclamations only), possessing legislative powers until after the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, where the bicameral Congress was restored.
16	Ramon Mitra, Jr.	LDP	Palawan-2nd	8th Congress	July 27, 1987	June 30, 1992	Fifth Republic
17	Jose de Venecia, Jr.	Lakas	Pangasinan-4th	9th Congress	July 27, 1992	June 30, 1995
17	Jose de Venecia, Jr.	Lakas	Pangasinan-4th	10th Congress	July 24, 1995	June 30, 1998
18	Manny Villar	LAMP	Las Piñas	11th Congress	July 27, 1998	November 13, 2000
19	Arnulfo Fuentebella	NPC	Camarines Sur-3rd		November 13, 2000	January 24, 2001
20	Feliciano Belmonte, Jr.	Lakas	Quezon City-4th		January 24, 2001	June 30, 2001
21	Jose de Venecia, Jr. (2nd time)	Lakas	Pangasinan-4th	12th Congress	July 23, 2001	June 30, 2004
				13th Congress	July 26, 2004	June 30, 2007
				14th Congress	July 23, 2007	February 5, 2008
22	Prospero Nograles	Lakas Lakas-Kampi	Davao City-1st	14th Congress	February 5, 2008	June 30, 2010
23	Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. (2nd time)	Liberal	Quezon City-4th	15th Congress	July 26, 2010	June 30, 2013
23	Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. (2nd time)	Liberal	Quezon City-4th	16th Congress	July 22, 2013	present

Speakers per region

Region	Total
Metro Manila	3
Ilocos Region	2
Eastern Visayas	2
Western Visayas	3
CALABARZON	1
MIMAROPA	1
Davao Region	1
Bicol Region	1
Negros Island Region	2

List of speakers per party

Party	Total	Terms
Nacionalista Party	2	5
Liberal Party	2	4
Kilusang Bagong Lipunan	2	2
Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats	1	5
Lakas-Kampi-CMD	1	1
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino	1	1
Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino	1	1
Nationalist People's Coalition	1	1

Timeline

Living former Speakers of the House

Currently there are five living former Speakers of the House:

Living Former Speakers of the House
Jose de Venecia, Jr. (Lakas-CMD), served 1992-1998, 2001-2008
Manuel Villar, Jr. (LAMMP), served 1998-2000
Prospero Nograles (Lakas Kampi CMD), served 2008-2010

v t e Speakers of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
▌ Osmeña (1907–1922) ▌ Roxas (1922–1934) ▌ Paredes (1934–1935) ▌ Montilla (1935–1938) ▌ Yulo (1939–1941) ▌ Aquino (1943–1944) ▌ Zulueta (1945–1946) ▌ Pérez (1946–1953) ▌ Laurel Jr. (1954–1957) ▌ D. Romualdez (1958–1962) ▌ Villareal (1962–1967) ▌ Laurel Jr. (1967–1971) ▌ Villareal (1971–1972) ▌ Makalintal (1978–1984) ▌ Yñiguez (1984–1986) ▌ Mitra (1987–1992) ▌ de Venecia (1992–1998) ▌ Villar (1998–2000) ▌ Fuentebella (2000–2001) ▌ Belmonte (2001) ▌ de Venecia (2001–2008) ▌ Nograles (2008–2010) ▌ Belmonte (2010–2016) ▌ Alvarez (2016–2018) ▌ Macapagal Arroyo (2018–2019) ▌ Cayetano (2019–2020) ▌ Velasco (2020–2022) ▌ M. Romualdez (2022–present)
▌ Nacionalista ▌ KALIBAPI ▌ Liberal ▌ KBL ▌ LDP ▌ Lakas ▌ LAMMP ▌ NPC ▌ PDP–Laban Category List