The president pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines () is the second highest-ranking official of the Senate of the Philippines. During the absence of the president of the Senate, the president pro tempore presides over the Senate.
By tradition, the president pro tempore is elected by a majority vote immediately after the Senate president during the opening of a new Congress, or whenever the position becomes vacant, whether through a motion or the incumbent's resignation. Although the American custom of electing the most senior member of the majority party as the president pro tempore is not exclusively followed, there have been instances in past Senates when senior members of the majority party have been elected to the position.
The incumbent president pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines is Tito Sotto since June 17, 2026.
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.
On June 3, 2026, Sherwin Gatchalian was elected president pro tempore, replacing Loren Legarda. The 11-member minority bloc, together with Senator Francis Escudero, was present during the day's session, constituting a quorum of 12 out of the 22 senators then under the Senate's jurisdiction, excluding detained senator Jinggoy Estrada and Ronald dela Rosa, who is in hiding following the issuance of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court. Gatchalian, who served as temporary presiding officer prior to his election, cited Avelino v. Cuenco, a Supreme Court decision that resolved a dispute concerning the Senate presidency.
On June 17, 2026, Gatchalian was formally elected Senate president, and Tito Sotto succeeded him as president pro tempore, becoming the second-oldest senator to serve 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:
No. Portrait Name Term of office Party/Coalition Senate President Legislature 1 Rafael PalmaSenator for the 4th District(1874–1939) October 16,1916 Nacionalista Manuel L. Quezon 4th Legislature 2 Espiridion GuancoSenator for the 8th District(1874–1925) October 27,1922 5th Legislature 3 Sergio OsmeñaSenator for the 10th District(1878–1961) October 27,1922 August 2,1933 Nacionalista Unipersonalista(until 1925) 6th Legislature Nacionalista Consolidado(from 1925) 7th Legislature 8th Legislature 9th Legislature 4 José ClarínSenator for the 11th District(1879–1935) August 2,1933 June 2,1935 Nacionalista(until 1934) Nacionalista Democratico(from 1934) 10th Legislature 5 José AvelinoSenator for the 9th District(1890–1986) June 2,1935 November 15, 1935 Nacionalista Democratico colspan="9" 6 Elpidio Quirino(1890–1956) June 9,1945 May 28,1946 Nacionalista(until 1946) Manuel Roxas 1st Commonwealth Congress Liberal(from 1946) 7 Melecio Arranz(1888–1966) May 28,1946 December 30,1949 Liberal José Avelino 2nd Commonwealth Congress 1st Congress Mariano Cuenco 8 Quintín Paredes(1884–1973) January 31,1950 March 5,1952 2nd Congress 9 Esteban Abada(1896–1954) March 5,1952 May 7,1952 Quintín Paredes Camilo Osías Eulogio Rodriguez 10 Manuel Briones(1896–1957) May 7,1952 April 17,1953 Nacionalista 11 Jose Zulueta(1889–1972) April 17,1953 April 30,1953Camilo Osías 12 Manuel Briones(1896–1957) April 30,1953 September 29,1957Jose Zulueta Eulogio Rodriguez 3rd Congress colspan="7" 13 Fernando Lopez(1904–1993) January 27,1958 December 30,1965Nacionalista 4th Congress 5th Congress Ferdinand Marcos 14 Lorenzo Sumulong(1905–1997) January 17,1966 January 26,1967 Arturo Tolentino 6th Congress 15 Camilo Osías(1889–1976) January 26,1967 December 30,1967 Liberal Gil Puyat 16 Jose Roy(1904–1986) January 22,1968 January 17,1973 Nacionalista 7th Congress colspan="9" 17 Teofisto Guingona Jr.(born 1928) July 27,1987 July 23,1990 Liberal Jovito Salonga 8th Congress 18 Sotero Laurel(1918–2009) July 23,1990 January 18,1992 Nacionalista 19 Ernesto Maceda(1935–2016) January 18,1992 January 18,1993 NPC Neptali Gonzales 9th Congress 20 Teofisto Guingona Jr.(born 1928) January 18,1993 July 6,1993 LDP Edgardo Angara colspan="7" 21 Leticia Ramos-Shahani(1929–2017) July 26,1993 October 10,1996 Lakas 10th Congress Neptali Gonzales 22 Blas Ople(1927–2003) October 10,1996 July 26,1999 rowspan="4" LDP Ernesto Maceda Neptali Gonzales Marcelo Fernan 11th Congress Blas Ople(acting) 23 John Henry Osmeña(1935–2021) July 26,1999 April 12,2000 Blas Ople 24 Blas Ople(1927–2003) April 12,2000 June 30,2001 Franklin Drilon Nene Pimentel 25 Manny Villar(born 1949) July 23,2001 August 12,2002 Independent Franklin Drilon 12th Congress 26 Juan Flavier(1935–2014) August 12,2002 June 30,2007 Lakas 13th Congress Manny Villar 27 Jinggoy Estrada(born 1963) July 23,2007 June 30,2013 PMP 14th Congress Juan Ponce Enrile 15th Congress Jinggoy Estrada(acting) 28 Ralph Recto(born 1964) July 22,2013 June 30,2016Liberal Franklin Drilon 16th Congress 29 Franklin Drilon(born 1945) July 25,2016 February 27,2017 Koko Pimentel 17th Congress 30 Ralph Recto(born 1964) February 27,2017 June 29,2022 Liberal(until 2018) Tito Sotto Nacionalista(from 2018) 18th Congress 31 Juan Miguel Zubiri(born 1969) June 29,2022 July 25,2022 Independent rowspan="2" 19th Congress 32 Loren Legarda(born 1960) July 25,2022 May 20,2024 NPC Juan Miguel Zubiri 33 Jinggoy Estrada(born 1963) May 20,2024 September 8,2025 PMP Francis Escudero 20th Congress 34 Panfilo Lacson(born 1948) September 8,2025 May 11,2026 Independent Tito Sotto 35 Loren Legarda(born 1960) May 11,2026 June 3,2026NPC Alan Peter Cayetano 36 Sherwin Gatchalian(born 1974) June 3,2026 June 17,2026 Sherwin Gatchalian(acting) 37 Tito Sotto(born 1948) June 17,2026 Incumbent Sherwin Gatchalian
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. Portrait Name Term of office Party/Coalition Senate President Legislature Francisco EnageSenator for the 9th District(1878–1959) Nacionalista Manuel L. Quezon 5th Legislature November 20, 1923– Nacionalista Colectivista 6th Legislature Claro M. RectoSenator for the 5th District(1890–1960) June 20, 1935–July 3, 1935 Nacionalista Democratico 10th Legislature
Timeline
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.