List of Presidents of the Philippines

For pre-colonial leaders of the Philippines, see Datu. For colonial chief executives prior to the ratification of the 1935 Constitution, see Governor-General of the Philippines.

Malacañang Palace, in the City of Manila, the official residence of the President.

The Official Seal of the President of the Philippines

The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of the Philippines. According to the Philippine government, the office has been held by politicians who were inaugurated as President of the Philippines, following the ratification of the Malolos Constitution that explicitly declared the existence of the Philippines.

Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of revolutionary forces first against Spanish rule and then against the United States of America, became president of the short-lived Malolos Republic in 1899. He was captured by American troops in 1901, ending his presidency. The republic never received international recognition. The Philippine government considers Aguinaldo to be the country's first president.^[1]

During the American colonial period (1898–1946), the President of the United States was head of state and the American Governor-General of the Philippines was the chief executive of the Insular Government. As part of a ten-year plan to transition to full Philippine sovereignty, the Philippine Commonwealth was established in 1935 and the governor-general was replaced by the elected President of the Commonwealth. Manuel L. Quezon was the first President of the Commonwealth and is considered the second Philippine president.

During the Second World War, the Philippines had three Presidents - one de facto and two de jure – with two concurrently heading rival governments either under Allied or Axis influence.^[2] Presidents Manuel L. Quezon and his successor, Sergio Osmeña served under the American-controlled Commonwealth of the Philippines and its subsequent government-in-exile, respectively. President José P. Laurel was a puppet ruler of the Second Republic – a client state of the Empire of Japan, which asserted that the Philippines was independent.

Before 1898, during the Spanish colonial period (1521–1898), the King of Spain was the sovereign and the Governor-General of the Philippines was chief executive of the Philippine government, known as the Spanish East Indies.

Legend

The colors in the following indicate the political party or coalition of each President on Election Day or upon their accession:

KALIBAPI
KBL
Lakas
LAMP

PDP-LABAN
UNIDO
Independent

List of Presidents

Presidents of the Philippines^[3]
		Took office	Left office	Party	Vice President		Term	Era
1	Emilio Aguinaldo (1869–1964)	January 23, 1899^{[L 1]}	rowspan=1\| March 23, 1901^{[L 2]}	None; formerly the Magdalo faction of the Katipunan^{[L 3]}	Mariano Trias^{[L 4]}		—	First Republic (Malolos Republic)
Defunct; executive power exercised by the Governor General of the Philippines under the American colonial Insular Government until November 15, 1935.								Insular Government
2	Manuel L. Quezon (1878–1944)	November 15, 1935	August 1, 1944^{[L 5]}	Nacionalista		Sergio Osmeña	1	Commonwealth
							2	Commonwealth
							2	Commonwealth (In exile)
3	José P. Laurel (1891–1959)	October 14, 1943	August 17, 1945^{[L 6]}	KALIBAPI^{[L 7]} (Caretaker government under Japanese occupation)	None^{[L 8]}		—	Second Republic
4	Sergio Osmeña (1878–1961)	August 1, 1944	May 28, 1946	Nacionalista	Vacant		2	Commonwealth (In exile)
4	Sergio Osmeña (1878–1961)	August 1, 1944	May 28, 1946	Nacionalista	Vacant		2	Commonwealth (Restored)
5	Manuel Roxas (1892–1948)	May 28, 1946	April 15, 1948^{[L 9]}	Liberal		Elpidio Quirino	3	Commonwealth (Restored)
5	Manuel Roxas (1892–1948)	May 28, 1946	April 15, 1948^{[L 9]}	Liberal		Elpidio Quirino		Third Republic
6	Elpidio Quirino (1890–1956)	April 17, 1948	December 30, 1953	Liberal	Vacant
6	Elpidio Quirino (1890–1956)	April 17, 1948	December 30, 1953	Liberal		Fernando Lopez	4
7	Ramon Magsaysay (1907–1957)	December 30, 1953	March 17, 1957^{[L 10]}	Nacionalista		Carlos P. Garcia	5
8	Carlos P. Garcia (1896–1971)	March 18, 1957	December 30, 1961	Nacionalista	Vacant		5
8	Carlos P. Garcia (1896–1971)	March 18, 1957	December 30, 1961	Nacionalista		Diosdado Macapagal	6
9	Diosdado Macapagal (1910–1997)	December 30, 1961	December 30, 1965	Liberal		Emmanuel Pelaez	7
10	Ferdinand Marcos (1917–1989)	December 30, 1965	February 25, 1986^{[L 11]}	Nacionalista		Fernando Lopez	8
10				Nacionalista		Fernando Lopez	9
10				KBL	Vacant		9	Marcos Dictatorship "The New Society"
					Vacant		10	Fourth Republic
						Arturo Tolentino	11
11	Corazon Aquino (1933–2009)	February 25, 1986^{[L 12]}	June 30, 1992	UNIDO		Salvador Laurel
								Freedom Revolutionary Mandate "The Revolutionary Government"
								Fifth Republic

12	Fidel V. Ramos (1928– )	June 30, 1992	June 30, 1998	Lakas		Joseph Estrada	12
12	Fidel V. Ramos (1928– )	June 30, 1992	June 30, 1998	Lakas		Joseph Estrada	12
13	Joseph Estrada (1937– )	June 30, 1998	January 20, 2001^{[L 13]}	LAMP		Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo	13
14	Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (1947– )	January 20, 2001	June 30, 2010	Lakas / KAMPI	Vacant
						Teofisto Guingona, Jr.
						Noli de Castro	14
				Lakas-Kampi		Noli de Castro	14
15	Benigno S. Aquino III (1960– )	June 30, 2010	June 30, 2016 (Term expires June 30, 2016)	Liberal		Jejomar Binay	15

Notes

↑ Term began with the formal establishment of the Malolos Republic, considered the First Philippine Republic.^[4]
↑ Term ended when Aguinaldo was captured by U.S. forces at Palanan, Isabela.^[4]
↑ Founded by Andrés Bonifacio and others on July 7, 1892; converted into a revolutionary government by Bonifacio on August 24, 1986; as a government, officially replaced by the Tejeros revolutionary government on March 22, 1897 - though some sectors refused cooperation; as an organization, officially abolished by Emilio Aguinaldo on July 15, 1898
↑ Mariano Trias was the vice president of Aguinaldo during the 1897 Tejeros Convention.
↑ Died due to tuberculosis at Saranac Lake, New York.
↑ Term ended with his dissolving the Philippine Republic in the wake of the surrender of Japanese forces to the Americans at World War II. His presidency is not considered by the Republic of the Philippines to have been legitimate.^[3] The Commonwealth government continued its existence as a government-in-exile in Australia and the United States during the Japanese occupation and later the second republic.^[5]
↑ Originally a Nacionalista, but was elected by the National Assembly under Japanese control. All parties were merged under Japanese auspices to form KALIBAPI, to which all officials belonged.
↑ The 1943 Constitution did not provide for a Vice President.
↑ Died due to a heart attack at Clark Air Base.
↑ Died on a plane crash at Mount Manunggal, Cebu.
↑ Deposed in the 1986 People Power Revolution.
↑ Assumed presidency by claiming victory in the disputed 1986 snap election.
↑ Deposed after the Supreme Court declared Estrada as resigned, and the office of the presidency as vacant as a result, after the 2001 EDSA Revolution.

Timeline

Statistics

Vice Presidents who succeeded to the Presidency
1. Sergio Osmeña succeeded on 1 August 1944 after the death of Manuel L. Quezon
2. Elpidio Quirino succeeded on April 17, 1948 after the death of Manuel Roxas
3. Carlos P. Garcia succeeded on March 17, 1957 after the death of Ramón Magsaysay
4. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo succeeded on January 20, 2001 after the Supreme Court declared that the seat of presidency was vacant, saying that Joseph Estrada had constructively resigned his post.
Vice Presidents who have been elected to the Presidency
1. Diosdado Macapagal (1961)
2. Joseph Estrada (1998)
Presidents who have been re-elected
1. Manuel L. Quezon (1941)
2. Ferdinand Marcos (1969, 1981, 1986)
  The 1935 constitution provided that no person shall serve as President for more than eight consecutive years.^[6] The 1973 constitution did not place restrictions on presidential re-election.^[7] The 1987 constitution provided that the President shall not be eligible for any re-election, and that no person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.^[8] President Arroyo succeeded to the presidency on January 20, 2001 and, after having served as President for less than four years and having been elected to the office of President in the May, 2004 elections, was sworn into a full six-year term on June 30, 2004.
Presidents who were elected while serving the remaining term of a predecessor
1. Elpidio Quirino (1949)
2. Carlos P. Garcia (1957)
3. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (2001)
Longest serving President: Ferdinand Marcos, 7,362 days
Shortest serving President: Sergio Osmeña, 665 days

Unofficial Presidents

Main article: List of Unofficial Presidents of the Philippines

Historians and other figures have identified the following people as having held the presidency of a government intended to represent the Philippines, but their terms of office are not counted by the Philippine government (or by some historians, as in the case of Jose P. Laurel) as part of the presidential succession.

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.