Vice President of the Philippines (, also referred to as ) is the title of the second-highest official in the executive branch of the Philippine government and is first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is directly elected by the citizens of the Philippines and is one of only two nationally elected executive officials, the other being the president.
The current office of the vice president was re-established under the 1987 Constitution, bearing similarities with the office as created in the 1935 Constitution that was abolished by the Marcos regime. The vice president may be elected to two consecutive six-year terms. The 15th and incumbent vice president Sara Duterte was inaugurated on June 19, 2022, but her term officially began 11 days later on June 30, as per the constitution.
Title The official title of the office in Filipino is Pangalawang Pangulo, although Bise Presidente, derived from Spanish, is the usual title used in some of the major Philippine languages, such as Cebuano and Hiligaynon language. The text of the 1987 Constitution refers to the person and office of the vice-president, with a hyphen connecting the two words. However, the person and office is usually referred to today without the hyphen, as the vice president.
History Colonial era The first known vice president claiming to be part of a government was Mariano Trías, whose term started on March 22, 1897. He was elected during the elections of the Tejeros Convention, and was later elected vice president of the Supreme Council that oversaw negotiations for the Pact of Biak-na-Bato in 1897. This Supreme Council had no sovereignty, did not govern any state, and was just used for bargaining with the Spanish. This council was replaced later, with no such position existing during the country's declaration of independence in 1898, which had a dictatorial government. Officially, the country's first actual republic was founded in 1899, and it too had no vice president. Trias instead served in the cabinets of Apolinario Mabini and Pedro Paterno, as finance minister and war minister, respectively. Trias is not considered a Philippine vice president as the Supreme Council did not proclaim any sovereign state.
Conceptualization and the Commonwealth The 1935 Constitution, largely patterned after the U.S. Constitution, provided the basis for the Commonwealth government. It also established the position of vice president, and as per Section 12, Subsection 3, the vice president may be appointed by the president to a cabinet position. But unlike their U.S. counterpart, the vice president is not the president of the Philippine senate as senators choose their president from among their ranks. The first person elected to the position of vice president under the constitution was Sergio Osmeña, elected together with Manuel L. Quezon in the first Philippine national elections.
Third Republic Since the inception of the 1935 constitution, the president and vice president came from the same ticket and political party, until the 1957 elections, which saw the first-ever split ticket that won the presidency and vice presidency.
Fourth Republic The 1973 Constitution abolished the office of the vice president and Fernando Lopez was therefore unable to finish his term. Subsequent amendments, particularly the 1984 amendments restored the vice presidency. Arturo Tolentino was officially proclaimed vice president-elect by the Regular Batasang Pambansa in 1986. He took his oath as vice president on February 16, 1986, before Chief Justice Ramon Aquino, but because of popular belief that the elections had been rigged, he never actually served out his term as vice president. Within a week after Tolentino's oath, the People Power Revolution resulted in the collapse of the Marcos regime.
Fifth Republic The People Power Revolution installed Corazon Aquino into the presidency. On February 25, 1986, Aquino and her running mate, Salvador Laurel, were sworn in as president and vice-president, respectively.The Vice Presidency : A Brief History , Office of the Vice President of the Philippines. Since the promulgation of the 1987 constitution, only two elections have produced a president and a vice president from the same ticket: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Noli de Castro in 2004 and Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte in 2022.
Powers and roles Aside from being mandated to assume the presidency in case of the death, disability, or resignation of the incumbent president, the 1987 Constitution did not lay out any explicit powers for the vice president, giving rise to the office being called a "spare tire". Article 7, Section 3 of the Constitution provided, however, that the vice president may be appointed to a cabinet position, without the need for confirmation. Appointments usually must be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, as per Article 7, Section 16 of the Constitution.
Cabinet member Since the inception of the 1935 Constitution, vice presidents have been appointed to Cabinet positions, with a few rejecting the offer made by the seating president. Osmeña was given the highest-ranking cabinet portfolio with inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in November 1935. Prior to independence in 1946, that cabinet portfolio was Secretary of Public Instruction, which had once been reserved only for the vice governor-general (an American). Vice President Osmeña held that position from 1935 to 1939, and a similar portfolio in the War Cabinet during World War II. No. Name Concurrent appointment Term began Term ended PresidentEra 1 Sergio Osmeña Secretary of Public Instruction November 15, 1935 April 18, 1939 Manuel L. QuezonCommonwealth Secretary of Public Instruction, Health, and Public Welfare December 24, 1941 August 1, 1944 2 Elpidio Quirino Secretary of Foreign Affairs July 15, 1946 April 17, 1948 Manuel RoxasThird Republic 3 Fernando Lopez Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources December 14, 1950 1953 Elpidio Quirino 4 Carlos P. Garcia Secretary of Foreign Affairs December 30, 1953 March 18, 1957 Ramon Magsaysay 5 Diosdado Macapagal No position offered Carlos P. Garcia 6 Emmanuel Pelaez Secretary of Foreign Affairs December 30, 1961 July 1963 Diosdado Macapagal 7 Fernando Lopez Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources December 30, 1965 1971 Ferdinand Marcos Office abolishedFourth Republic 8 Salvador Laurel Secretary of Foreign Affairs March 25, 1986 September 17, 1987 Corazon AquinoFifth Republic 9 Joseph Ejercito Estrada Chairman of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission June 30, 1992 June 4, 1997 Fidel V. Ramos 10 Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Secretary of Social Welfare and Development June 30, 1998 October 12, 2000 Joseph Ejercito Estrada 11 Teofisto Guingona Jr. Secretary of Foreign Affairs February 9, 2001 July 15, 2002 Gloria Macapagal Arroyo 12 Noli de Castro Chairperson of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council June 30, 2004 June 30, 2010 13 Jejomar Binay June 30, 2010 June 22, 2015 Benigno Aquino III 14 Leni Robredo July 7, 2016 December 5, 2016 Rodrigo Duterte 15 Sara Duterte Secretary of Education June 30, 2022 July 19, 2024 Bongbong Marcos
After independence, the highest-ranking cabinet position became that of secretary of foreign affairs (it is still the highest-ranking cabinet portfolio in official protocol to this day), which was given to Vice President Elpidio Quirino. Vice President Fernando Lopez declined the foreign affairs portfolio when he became Quirino's vice president in 1949 and instead served as secretary of agriculture and natural resources during his two non-consecutive terms. However, Vice Presidents Carlos P. Garcia and Emmanuel Pelaez also held the foreign affairs portfolio, a tradition revived in the Fifth Republic, as well as Vice Presidents Salvador Laurel and Teofisto Guingona Jr. after the position's restoration in 1986. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo served as secretary of social welfare and development and incumbent Sara Duterte served as the secretary of education. Other Cabinet positions with no secretary title was given to Vice President Joseph Estrada as chairman of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission and to Vice Presidents Noli de Castro, Jejomar Binay, and Leni Robredo as chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.
Among the vice presidents, Diosdado Macapagal alone was not given any cabinet position, since he was the first elected vice president that did not originate from the same party as the incumbent president.
Successor to the Philippine president The vice president is first in the presidential line of succession. The Constitution provides several circumstances where the vice president (or the vice president-elect) shall assume the presidency or serve as acting president. In case of the death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the president, the vice president shall assume the presidency.1987 Constitution of the Philippines, art. 7, sec. 8. If the president-elect fails to qualify for office, the vice president-elect shall act as president until the president-elect is qualified. If in case of death, permanent disability, dismissed from service, resignation or failure to assume the post, the Senate president shall assume the vice presidency. If a president is not chosen, then the vice president shall act as president until a president is chosen and qualified. There have been four cases where the vice president has assumed the presidency, three of which because of the president's death, and one because of the president's resignation: Sergio Osmeña in 1944, upon the death of Manuel L. Quezon. Elpidio Quirino in 1948, upon the death of Manuel Roxas. Carlos P. Garcia in 1957, upon the death of Ramon Magsaysay. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2001, upon the resignation of Joseph Ejercito Estrada, as decided by the Supreme Court, following the events of the Second EDSA Revolution.
Other roles Aside from their constitutional roles, the vice president may initiate various programs and services under the Office of the Vice President. The vice president also performs ceremonial functions, occasionally representing the president, the government, and the country in official gatherings and diplomatic functions. The vice president was also a member of the National Security Council, until its reorganization in 2025 which removed the vice president from the body.
Election process Eligibility Article 7, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution mandates that the vice president must bear the same qualifications as the president which is:
a natural-born citizen of the Philippines a registered voter be able to read and write at least forty years of age on the day of the election a resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding such election
Natural-born Filipinos are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines at the time of their birth and those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority are considered natural-born Filipinos.1987 Constitution of the Philippines, art. 7, sec. 2
Election The vice president is elected in the same manner as, but separately from, the president: by direct vote every six years, usually on the second Monday of May.1987 Constitution of the Philippines, art. 7, sec. 3. The latest election was held in 2022.