Under the Constitution of the Philippines, the president of the Philippines () 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 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 WarII. 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 July4 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 () 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 in office; he is the only president to have served more than two terms. The shortest is Sergio Osmeña, who spent 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.

List of presidents

No. PortraitNameTerm startTerm endTerm lengthParty ElectionVice president1Emilio AguinaldoJanuary 23,1899April 19,1901Nonpartisan1899None colspan="10" 2Manuel L. QuezonNovember 15,1935August 1,1944Nacionalista1935Sergio Osmeña19413Jose P. LaurelOctober 14,1943August 17,1945KALIBAPI1943None4Sergio OsmeñaAugust 1,1944May 28,1946Nacionalista—None5Manuel RoxasMay 28,1946April 15,1948Liberal1946Elpidio Quirino colspan="9" 6Elpidio QuirinoApril 17,1948December 30,1953Liberal—None1949Fernando Lopez7Ramon MagsaysayDecember 30,1953March 17,1957Nacionalista1953Carlos P. Garcia colspan="9" 8Carlos P. GarciaMarch 18,1957December 30,1961Nacionalista—None1957Diosdado Macapagal9Diosdado MacapagalDecember 30,1961December 30,19654 yearsLiberal1961Emmanuel Pelaez10Ferdinand MarcosDecember 30,1965February 25,1986Nacionalista1965Fernando Lopez1969None19731977KBL1981Vacant11Corazon AquinoFebruary 25,1986June 30,1992UNIDO1986Salvador LaurelIndependent12Fidel V. RamosJune 30,1992June 30,19986 yearsLakas1992Joseph Estrada13Joseph EstradaJune 30,1998January 20,2001LAMMP1998Gloria Macapagal Arroyo14Gloria Macapagal ArroyoJanuary 20,2001June 30,2010Lakas—VacantTeofisto Guingona Jr.2004Noli de Castro15Benigno Aquino IIIJune 30,2010June 30,20166 yearsLiberal2010Jejomar Binay16Rodrigo DuterteJune 30,2016June 30,20226 yearsPDP–Laban2016Leni Robredo17Bongbong MarcosJune 30,2022IncumbentPFP2022Sara Duterte

Timeline

Living former presidents

Unofficial presidents Andrés Bonifacio is considered by some historians to be the first president of the Philippines. He was the third Supreme President (; ) 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 (; ). (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.) (Item 3 in the list, referring to Note 41 at p.61, citing );

^ , "Formation of a revolutionary government";

^ (in "Document G", Account of Mr. Bricco Brigado Pantos).....

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 Term start Term end Term length Party Election Vice president Government Andrés Bonifacio August 24, 1896 March 22, 1897May 10, 1897 Nonpartisan — None Sovereign Tagalog Nation Emilio Aguinaldo March 22, 1897 November 1, 1897 Nonpartisan 1897Mariano Trias Tejeros Revolutionary Government November 2, 1897 December 14, 1897 — Republic of Biak-na-Bato May 24, 1898 June 23, 1898 — Dictatorial Government June 23, 1898 January 23, 1899 — Revolutionary Government Francisco Makabulos April 17, 1898 May 19, 1898 Nonpartisan — None Central Executive Committee Miguel Malvar April 19, 1901 April 16, 1902 Nonpartisan — None First Republic Macario Sakay May 6, 1902 July 14, 1906 Katipunan — Francisco Carreón Tagalog Republic José Abad Santos March 17, 1942 May 1, 1942 Independent — None Commonwealth Jorge B. Vargas January 23, 1942 October 14, 1943 KALIBAPI — None Philippine Executive Commission Arturo Tolentino July 6, 1986 July 8, 1986 KBL 1986 None Fourth Republic

Notes

Subnotes

Other notes

See also List of vice presidents of the Philippines

References

Works cited

External links

Presidential Website Office of the President of the Philippines Presidential Museum and Library Philippines at worldstatesmen.org+