| Majority Floor Leader of the Senate of the Philippines | |
|---|---|
| Lider ng Mayorya ng Senado ng Pilipinas | |
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| Style | The Honorable (Diplomatic) |
| Appointer | Elected by theSenate of the Philippines |
| Inaugural holder | Francisco Felipe Villanueva |
| Formation | October 16, 1916 |
| Deputy | Deputy Majority Floor Leader of the Senate of the Philippines |
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 Philippines portal |
Themajority floor leader of the Senate of the Philippines (Filipino:Lider ng Mayorya ng Senado ng Pilipinas),[1] or simply theSenate majority floor leader, is the leader elected by the political party or coalition of parties that holds the majority in theSenate of the Philippines.
By tradition, theSenate president or any presiding officer gives the majority leader priority in obtaining the floor and is also the traditional chairman of theCommittee on Rules. The majority leader also manages the business of the majority bloc in the Senate.[2]
The current Senate majority floor leader isJuan Miguel Zubiri.[3]
Two deputy majority leaders serving concurrently assist the majority leader in his duties and assumes the latter's responsibilities when the majority leader is absent.JV Ejercito andRisa Hontiveros are serving as deputy majority leaders of the20th Congress in the Senate.[4]
The position of floor leader representing the chamber as a whole was created in 1916 upon the establishment of the Philippine Senate.Francisco Felipe Villanueva of theNacionalista Party was elected as the Senate’s first floor leader. From then until the first abolition of the Senate in 1935, the Nacionalista Party emerged as the ruling party in Congress, establishing a virtuallydominant-party system in the Philippines. In 1931,Claro M. Recto became the lone minority member after distancing himself from his Nacionalista partymates, thus becoming the minority leader and creating the distinction of a majority floor leader.[5]Benigno Aquino Sr. was the first senator elected to the role in this capacity, leading the majority bloc. Recto, previously a member of theDemocrata Party, rejoined the Senate majority after switching to the Nacionalista Party by 1934 and was elected floor leader.
By the1st Congress, after several Nacionalista members led byManuel Roxas broke away from the party to run under its liberal wing for the1946 elections, which later established theLiberal Party, a form of thetwo-party system emerged.Vicente Francisco led the Liberal majority bloc after the party won 9 of the 16 contested seats in the first postwar Senate election. The Nacionalistas regained their majority in the3rd Congress, led byCipriano Primicias Sr. as floor leader.[6] He is the longest-serving Senate majority floor leader in history, with a total uninterrupted tenure of 7 years and 339 days.Arturo Tolentino served as the last majority floor leader of the Senate from 1970 until 1972, when the chamber was dissolved following presidentFerdinand Marcos’s declaration of martial law.
The Senate was reestablished under the1987 Constitution.Orlando Mercado became the leader of the majority bloc,[7] now composed of multiple political parties forming an internal alliance rather than functioning as standalone parties.Teofisto Guingona Jr. succeeded Mercado in 1990, until he was replaced byLaban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) senatorAlberto Romulo at the fifth regular session of the8th Congress.[8] The LDP became the majority party in the Senate by 1992, with memberFrancisco Tatad serving as majority leader from 1996. A coup ousted incumbent Senate presidentErnesto Maceda in 1998, installingNeptali Gonzales in the position andLakas–NUCD–UMDP senatorFranklin Drilon as majority leader.
Tatad was reelected to the position in 2000 under Drilon’s Senate presidency.Loren Legarda became the first and only woman senator elected as majority floor leader in 2001.[9] Legarda left the majority in 2004 after allying with the opposition coalitionKoalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino for her vice presidential bid against presidentGloria Macapagal Arroyo’s running mate, senatorNoli de Castro, and was replaced byFrancis Pangilinan.[10] The election ofJuan Ponce Enrile as Senate president in November 2008 saw Pangilinan replaced byJuan Miguel Zubiri as majority leader, the youngest to be elected in Senate history.[11] In the15th Congress,Tito Sotto was elected to the position.[12] He was notable for chairing the Committee on Rules which drafted the Senate’s rules on impeachment proceedings used during the trial of chief justiceRenato Corona.Alan Peter Cayetano led the Senate majority in the16th Congress,[13] with Sotto returning to the position in 2016 until his election as Senate president in 2018 following a term-sharing agreement withKoko Pimentel.[14][15]
Juan Miguel Zubiri was reelected as majority floor leader after eight years in 2018, becoming the first independent senator to serve in the position, and held the post until his election as Senate president at the start of the19th Congress.[16]Joel Villanueva then became Zubiri’s majority floor leader in 2022,[17] resigning in 2024 when Zubiri stepped down as Senate president and was succeeded byFrancis Escudero.[18]Francis Tolentino subsequently served as the new majority leader until the end of his senatorial term in 2025.[19] Villanueva aligned himself with Escudero’s majority after his reelection as Senate president, becoming majority leader at the start of the20th Congress.[20] Zubiri, who had previously served as majority leader duringTito Sotto’s first tenure as Senate president, reassumed the position on September 8, 2025, after Sotto was reelected to the Senate presidency following a leadership coup.[21]
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Party | Legislature | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | |||||
 | Francisco Felipe Viillanueva Senator for the7th District (1867–1923) | October 16, 1916 | June 3, 1919 | Nacionalista | 4th Legislature | |
 | Francisco Enage Senator for the9th District (1878–1958) | June 3, 1919 | June 2, 1925 | Nacionalista (until 1922) | 5th Legislature | |
| Nacionalista Colectivista (from 1922) | 6th Legislature | |||||
.JPG) | Jose P. Laurel Senator for the5th District (1891–1959) | June 2, 1925 | June 2, 1931 | Nacionalista | 7th Legislature | |
| 8th Legislature | ||||||
 | Benigno Aquino Sr. Senator for the3rd District (1894–1947) | July 16, 1931 | June 5, 1934 | Nacionalista | 9th Legislature | |
 | Claro M. Recto Senator for the5th District (1890–1960) | July 16, 1934 | November 15, 1935 | Nacionalista Democratico | 10th Legislature | |
| Senate abolished (November 15, 1935 – June 9, 1945) | ||||||
 | Melecio Arranz (1888–1966) | June 9, 1945 | May 25, 1946 | Nacionalista | 1st Commonwealth Congress | |
 | Vicente Francisco (1891–1974) | May 25, 1946 | February 21, 1949 | Liberal | 2nd Commonwealth Congress | |
| 1st Congress | ||||||
 | Tomas Cabili (1903–1957) | February 21, 1949 | December 30, 1953 | Liberal | ||
| 2nd Congress | ||||||
| Cipriano Primicias Sr. (1901–1965) | January 25, 1954 | December 30, 1961 | Nacionalista | 3rd Congress | |
| 4th Congress | ||||||
 | Arturo Tolentino (1910–2004) | January 22, 1962 | December 30, 1965 | Nacionalista | 5th Congress | |
 | Jose Roy (1904–1986) | January 17, 1966 | January 26, 1967 | Nacionalista | 6th Congress | |
 | Rodolfo Ganzon (1922–2003) | January 26, 1967 | December 30, 1969 | Nacionalista | ||
| Arturo Tolentino (1910–2004) | January 26, 1970 | January 17, 1973 | Nacionalista | 7th Congress | |
| Senate abolished[a] (January 17, 1973 – July 27, 1987) | ||||||
 | Orly Mercado (born 1946) | July 27, 1987 | October 31, 1989 | Liberal | 8th Congress | |
 | Teofisto Guingona Jr. (born 1928) | July 23, 1990 | July 22, 1991 | Liberal | ||
.jpg) | Alberto Romulo (born 1933) | July 22, 1991 | October 10, 1996 | LDP | ||
| 9th Congress | ||||||
 | Francisco Tatad (born 1939) | October 10, 1996 | January 26, 1998 | LDP | ||
| 10th Congress | ||||||
.jpg) | Franklin Drilon (born 1945) | January 26, 1998 | July 12, 2000 | Lakas (until 1998) | ||
| LAMMP (from 1998) | 11th Congress | |||||
| Francisco Tatad (born 1939) | July 12, 2000 | June 30, 2001 | PRP | ||
.jpg) | Loren Legarda (born 1960) | July 23, 2001 | June 3, 2002 | Lakas | 12th Congress | |
 | Nene Pimentel (1933–2019) | June 3, 2002 | July 23, 2002 | PDP–Laban | ||
| Loren Legarda (born 1960) | July 23, 2002 | January 12, 2004 | Lakas | ||
 | Kiko Pangilinan (born 1963) | January 12, 2004 | November 17, 2008 | Liberal | ||
| 13th Congress | ||||||
| 14th Congress | ||||||
.jpg) | Juan Miguel Zubiri (born 1969) | November 17, 2008 | June 30, 2010 | Lakas | ||
.jpg) | Tito Sotto (born 1948) | July 26, 2010 | June 30, 2013 | NPC | 15th Congress | |
 | Alan Peter Cayetano (born 1970) | July 23, 2013 | June 30, 2016 | Nacionalista | 16th Congress | |
| Tito Sotto (born 1948) | July 25, 2016 | May 21, 2018 | NPC | 17th Congress | |
_(cropped).jpg) | Juan Miguel Zubiri (born 1969) | May 21, 2018 | June 29, 2022 | Independent | ||
| 18th Congress | ||||||
_(cropped).jpg) | Joel Villanueva (born 1975) | July 25, 2022 | May 20, 2024 | Independent | 19th Congress | |
.jpg) | Francis Tolentino (born 1960) | May 20, 2024 | June 30, 2025 | PDP (until 2024) | ||
| PFP (from 2024) | ||||||
 | Joel Villanueva (born 1975) | July 28, 2025 | September 8, 2025 | Independent | 20th Congress | |
| Juan Miguel Zubiri (born 1969) | September 8, 2025 | Incumbent | Independent | ||
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term start | Party | Legislature | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | |||||
_(cropped).jpg) | Mark Villar (born 1978) | August 2, 2022 | June 30, 2025 | Nacionalista | 19th Congress | |
 | JV Ejercito (born 1969) | August 2, 2022 | May 20, 2024 | NPC | ||
| July 23, 2024 | Incumbent | |||||
| 20th Congress | ||||||
 | Rodante Marcoleta (born 1953) | July 30, 2025 | September 8, 2025 | Independent | ||
 | Risa Hontiveros (born 1966) | September 8, 2025 | Incumbent | Akbayan | ||
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