List of presidents of the Philippines


Under the present Constitution of the Philippines, the president of the Philippines is both the head of state and the head of government, and serves as the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces. The president is directly elected by qualified voters of the population 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". Any person who has served as president for more than six years is barred from running for the position again. Upon an incumbent president's death, permanent disability, resignation, or removal from office, the vice president assumes the post.
Sixteen people have been sworn into office as president. Following the ratification of the Malolos Constitution in 1899, Emilio Aguinaldo became the inaugural president of the Malolos Republic, considered the First Philippine Republic. He held that office until 1901 when he was captured by United States forces during the Philippine–American War. 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 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. A change in government occurred three years later when the Second Philippine Republic was organized with the enactment of the 1943 Constitution, which Japan imposed after it 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 Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945; the Commonwealth was restored in the Philippines in the same year with Sergio Osmeña as president.
Manuel Roxas followed Picar 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, who performed a self-coup by imposing martial law in 1972. The dictatorship saw the birth of Marcos' 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 and one in a plane crash. 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, who ascended to the presidency upon the successful People Power Revolution of 1986, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who, as Vice President, ascended to the presidency upon Estrada's resignation and was elected to a full six-year term in 2004.

Presidents

The colors indicate the political party affiliation of each individual.
  1. Term started with the inauguration of the First Philippine Republic, and ended when Aguinaldo was captured by US forces in Palanan, Isabela, during the Philippine–American War.
  2. The constitution in force didn't provide for a vice president.
  3. Died in office
  4. The constitution in force didn't provide a mechanism for appointment of a vice president in times of vacancy.
  5. Roxas and Quirino ran as candidates of the "Liberal wing of the Nacionalista Party", this "Liberal wing" later seceded and formed the Liberal Party in 1947.
  6. The Liberal Party was split into two wings for the 1949 election. Quirino headed primary wing, while Jose Avelino headed the other.
  7. Lopez won the 1949 vice presidential election as nominee of the Liberal Party. He was later named as vice presidential nominee of the Democratic Party for the 1953 election, but when their presidential candidate Carlos P. Romulo withdrew, he also withdrew to run for a Senate seat instead.
  8. Marcos was deposed in the People Power Revolution.
  9. UNIDO was dissolved in 1987. Aquino nominally was an independent for the rest of her term, while Laurel was an independent, then became the standard bearer of the resurrected Nacionalista Party.
  10. Estrada was the candidate of the Nationalist People's Coalition in the 1992 vice presidential election, then founded the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino as his presidential vehicle in 1998.
  11. Estrada was ruled to have resigned by the Supreme Court during the Second EDSA Revolution.
  12. Arroyo won the 1998 vice presidential and 2004 presidential election as the nominee of Lakas-NUCD-UMDP. This merged with the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino, the party Arroyo founded, in 2009, to form Lakas Kampi CMD.
  13. Binay won the 2010 vice presidential election as nominee of the PDP–Laban, but left the party to become an independent, then founded the United Nationalist Alliance in the run-up to the 2013 Senate election.

    Timeline

Works cited