President pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines

Powers and duties

According to Rule IV, Section 4 of the Rules of the Senate, the president pro tempore is mandated to discharge the powers and duties of the Senate president in the following cases:

Section 5 further notes that the president pro tempore shall serve as acting president in cases specified in Section 4(c) until the Senate elects a new president.

Section 20 of Rule X of the Senate Rules also provide that along with the floor leaders, the president pro tempore is an ex officio member of all permanent committees, and may also be elected chairperson of any of the committees.

History

Pre-martial law period

The Philippine Senate unanimously elected Rafael Palma as its first president pro tempore upon its establishment in 1916. He was succeeded by Espiridion Guanco in the 5th Legislature. Sergio Osmeña became the first president pro tempore to serve as acting Senate president when Manuel Quezon went ill in 1930. He is also the longest to serve as president pro tempore in Senate history. In 1932, José Clarín acted as the Senate president when Quezon went on leave. Upon Clarín's death in 1935, José Avelino would briefly serve as president pro tempore until the Senate was abolished in favor of a unicameral National Assembly.

The Senate was then restored by the constitutional amendment in 1940, but senators elected in 1941 were not able to assume office due to the outbreak of World War II. Congress would only reconvene by 1945, and Elpidio Quirino was elected as president pro tempore alongside Manuel Roxas as Senate president. When the Senate encountered multiple deadlocks in electing a new Senate president at the start of the 2nd Congress in January 1952, president pro tempore Quintín Paredes presided over the sessions until March 5, 1952, when he was formally elected president of the Senate after Felisberto Verano of the Nacionalista Party voted for him, a member of the Liberal Party.

Jose Roy served as the last president pro tempore of the Senate when it was abolished for a second time in 1972 upon the declaration of martial law.

Fifth Republic

Teofisto Guingona Jr. served as president pro tempore of the reestablished Senate from 1987 to 1990, and was succeeded by Sotero Laurel.

In 1993, the Senate elected Leticia Ramos-Shahani as its first female president pro tempore. Ramos-Shahani was the first female lawmaker in history to serve as a deputy presiding officer in either houses of Congress. When Marcelo Fernan resigned the Senate presidency in June 1999 due to failing health, president pro tempore Blas Ople was designated as acting presiding officer, until he himself was elected president nearly a month later. Franklin Drilon was temporarily designated by Fernan as the Senate's officer-in-charge before Ople's return from a trip to Switzerland and his assumption as the chamber's acting president.

On August 12, 2002, Manny Villar stepped down as president pro tempore to be elected chairperson of the Senate committees on finance and foreign relations. Juan Flavier was subsequently elected to succeed Villar.

Juan Ponce Enrile resigned as Senate president on June 5, 2013. President pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada served as acting president until Franklin Drilon was elected president of the Senate on July 22, 2013. Drilon, who had earlier served as president pro tempore under Senate president Koko Pimentel, was later removed from the position along with other Liberal Party senators from their committee chairmanships following a motion by Manny Pacquiao to declare the post vacant. He was succeeded by Ralph Recto, a fellow Liberal and former minority leader, who had previously served as Drilon's president pro tempore during the 16th Congress.

In June 2022, Juan Miguel Zubiri became the first majority floor leader to concurrently serve as president pro tempore after he was elected to the position to allow the Senate to discharge its administrative functions without interruption while then-Senate president Tito Sotto was nearing the end of his term. Loren Legarda, then the most senior senator in the 19th Congress, was elected on July 25, 2022, as the second female Senate president pro tempore.

On September 8, 2025, Panfilo Lacson was elected president pro tempore of the Senate, the oldest senator in history to assume the position. Legarda succeeded Lacson in an election on May 11, 2026, her second time serving in the position.

List of Senate presidents pro tempore

Since the office was established in 1916, 32 individuals are known to have served as president pro tempore of the Senate.

All senators from 1941 onwards were elected at-large, with the whole Philippines as one constituency. Every president pro tempore of the Senate has been a member of a political party or faction; the number affiliated with each is:

Nacionalista – 12; Liberal – 8; NPC – 4; Lakas – 2; LDP – 3; Nacionalista Democratico – 2; Nacionalista Unipersonalista – 1; PMP – 1; Independent – 3.

Unverified or uncertain tenures

Sources claim that Francisco Enage and Claro M. Recto served as president pro tempore of the Senate for two uncertain periods during the Senate presidency of Manuel L. Quezon. It is unclear whether Enage and Recto held the position in an official capacity or served in an acting capacity during Sergio Osmeña and José Avelino’s tenures, respectively, as Senate president pro tempore.

Relationship with the Senate presidency

Seven presidents pro tempore were later elected Senate president, while four former Senate presidents subsequently served as president pro tempore.