List of presidents of the Philippines

List of presidents of the Philippines

Under the Constitution of the Philippines, the president of the Philippines (Filipino: Pangulo ng Pilipinas) is both the head of state and 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". No elected president can seek re-election. Upon resignation, or removal from the office, the vice president assumes the post. A president's successor who hasn't served for more than four years can still seek a full term for the presidency.

The incumbent president is Bongbong Marcos, who assumed office on June 30, 2022.

History

List of presidents of the Philippines

Emilio Aguinaldo became the inaugural president of the Philippines under the Malolos Republic, which was 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 (1935–1944) 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. However, a change in the government occurred three years later when the Second Philippine Republic was organized with the enactment of the 1943 Constitution, which Japan imposed after the 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 the Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945; the Commonwealth was then restored in the Philippines in the same year with the election of Sergio Osmeña (1944–1946) as president.

Manuel Roxas (1946–1948) then 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 (1965–1986), 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) 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, 1953–1957). 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 (1986–1992), who ascended to the presidency upon the successful People Power Revolution of 1986, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001–2010), who, as vice president, ascended to the presidency upon Estrada's resignation and was elected to a full six-year term in 2004.

Presidents

List of presidents of the Philippines

No.	Portrait	Name (Lifespan)	Term start	Term end	Term length	Party	Election	Vice president
1		Emilio Aguinaldo (1869–1964)	January 23, 1899	April 19, 1901	2 years, 86 days		Nonpartisan	1899	None
Position abolished (April 19, 1901 – November 15, 1935)
2		Manuel L. Quezon (1878–1944)	November 15, 1935	August 1, 1944	8 years, 260 days		Nacionalista	1935	Sergio Osmeña
1941
3		Jose P. Laurel (1891–1959)	October 14, 1943	August 17, 1945	1 year, 307 days		KALIBAPI	1943	None
4		Sergio Osmeña (1878–1961)	August 1, 1944	May 28, 1946	1 year, 300 days		Nacionalista	—	None
5		Manuel Roxas (1892–1948)	May 28, 1946	April 15, 1948	1 year, 323 days		Liberal	1946	Elpidio Quirino
Vacant (April 15–17, 1948)
6		Elpidio Quirino (1890–1956)	April 17, 1948	December 30, 1953	5 years, 257 days		Liberal	—	None (until 1949)
1949	Fernando Lopez (from 1949)
7		Ramon Magsaysay (1907–1957)	December 30, 1953	March 17, 1957	3 years, 77 days		Nacionalista	1953	Carlos P. Garcia
Vacant (March 17–18, 1957)
8		Carlos P. Garcia (1896–1971)	March 18, 1957	December 30, 1961	4 years, 287 days		Nacionalista	—	None (until 1957)
1957	Diosdado Macapagal (from 1957)
9		Diosdado Macapagal (1910–1997)	December 30, 1961	December 30, 1965	4 years		Liberal	1961	Emmanuel Pelaez
10		Ferdinand Marcos (1917–1989)	December 30, 1965	February 25, 1986	20 years, 57 days		Nacionalista (until 1978)	1965	Fernando Lopez (until 1973)
1969
None (1973–1984)
1973
1977
	KBL (from 1978)
1981
Vacant (from 1984)
11		Corazon Aquino (1933–2009)	February 25, 1986	June 30, 1992	6 years, 126 days		UNIDO (until 1987)	1986	Salvador Laurel
	Independent (from 1987)
12		Fidel V. Ramos (1928–2022)	June 30, 1992	June 30, 1998	6 years		Lakas	1992	Joseph Estrada
13		Joseph Estrada (born 1937)	June 30, 1998	January 20, 2001	2 years, 204 days		LAMMP	1998	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
14		Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (born 1947)	January 20, 2001	June 30, 2010	9 years, 161 days		Lakas	—	Vacant (until 2001)
Teofisto Guingona Jr. (2001–2004)
2004	Noli de Castro (from 2004)
15		Benigno Aquino III (1960–2021)	June 30, 2010	June 30, 2016	6 years		Liberal	2010	Jejomar Binay
16		Rodrigo Duterte (born 1945)	June 30, 2016	June 30, 2022	6 years		PDP–Laban	2016	Leni Robredo
17		Bongbong Marcos (born 1957)	June 30, 2022	Incumbent	3 years, 274 days		PFP	2022	Sara Duterte

Living former presidents

List of presidents of the Philippines

• Living former presidents showing periods in office with dates of birth and age and current position in government • Joseph Estrada (1998–2001) April 19, 1937 None (retired) • Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001–2010) April 5, 1947 Representative of Pampanga's 2nd district • Rodrigo Duterte (2016–2022) March 28, 1945 None

Unofficial presidents

List of presidents of the Philippines

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 should also be included. Malvar 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 still 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)	Term start	Term end	Term length	Party	Election	Vice president	Government
	Andrés Bonifacio (1863–1897)	August 24, 1896	March 22, 1897 or May 10, 1897	210 days or 259 days		Nonpartisan	—	None	Sovereign Tagalog Nation
	Emilio Aguinaldo (1869–1964)	March 22, 1897	November 1, 1897	224 days		Nonpartisan	1897	Mariano Trias	Tejeros Revolutionary Government
November 2, 1897	December 14, 1897	42 days	—	Republic of Biak-na-Bato
May 24, 1898	June 23, 1898	30 days	—	Dictatorial Government
June 23, 1898	January 23, 1899	214 days	—	Revolutionary Government
	Francisco Makabulos (1871–1922)	April 17, 1898	May 19, 1898	32 days		Nonpartisan	—	None	Central Executive Committee
	Miguel Malvar (1865–1911)	April 19, 1901	April 16, 1902	362 days		Nonpartisan	—	None	First Republic
	Macario Sakay (1870–1907)	May 6, 1902	July 14, 1906	4 years, 69 days		Katipunan (Holdout/revival)	—	Francisco Carreón	Tagalog Republic
	José Abad Santos (1886–1942)	March 17, 1942	May 1, 1942	45 days		Independent	—	None	Commonwealth
	Jorge B. Vargas (1890–1980)	January 23, 1942	October 14, 1943	1 year, 264 days		KALIBAPI	—	None	Philippine Executive Commission
	Arturo Tolentino (1910–2004)	July 6, 1986	July 8, 1986	2 days		KBL	1986	None	Fourth Republic