President pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines

The president pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines (Filipino: Pangulong pro tempore ng Senado ng Pilipinas) 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.^[1]

The incumbent president pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines is Panfilo Lacson.^[2]

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:^[3]

• When the President is absent for one or more days;
• When the President is temporarily incapacitated; or
• In the event of the resignation, removal, death or absolute incapacity of the 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.

The Philippine Senate did not have a president pro tempore from its establishment in 1916 until the 5th Legislature, when Espiridion Guanco of the Nacionalista Party was elected to the position in 1919.^[4] Sergio Osmeña became the first president pro tempore to serve as acting Senate president when Manuel Quezon went ill in 1930.^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10]

Juan Ponce Enrile resigned as Senate president on June 5, 2013.^[11] 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.^[12]

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.^[13] 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.^[14]

On September 8, 2025, Panfilo Lacson was elected president pro tempore of the Senate,^[15] the oldest senator in history to assume the position.

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:

  Nacionalista – 11;^[a][b]   Liberal – 9;^[c]   Lakas – 3;^[d]   LAMMP – 2;^[e]   NPC – 2;   LDP – 1;^[f]   PMP – 1;   Independent – 3.

Sources claim that at least two senators served as president pro tempore of the Senate for uncertain periods during the Senate presidency of Manuel L. Quezon. It is unclear whether Rafael Palma or Francisco Enage held the position in an official capacity or served in an acting capacity during Sergio Osmeña’s tenure as Senate president pro tempore.

• List of Previous Senators of the Philippines