TheMalolos Congress The pre-martial law Senate ThePhilippines has been governed by legislatures since 1898. The country has had different setups, with legislatures under thepresidential system and theparliamentary system , and with legislatures having one or two chambers.
The first national legislature in thePhilippines was theMalolos Congress that convened in theBarasoain Church atMalolos ,Bulacan . Convened after the declaration of independence from Spain at the height of thePhilippine Revolution , the Congress ratified the declaration, and drafted aconstitution . With the capture ofPresident Emilio Aguinaldo during the ensuingPhilippine–American War , the unrecognizedFirst Philippine Republic fell.
The Americans then sent several commissions to assess the situation; these eventually became thePhilippine Commission . With the passage of thePhilippine Bill of 1902 , the Philippine Commission eventually became an appointiveupper house of the newPhilippine Legislature , of which the wholly electedPhilippine Assembly was thelower house . The passage of thePhilippine Autonomy Act instituted a mostly electiveSenate as the upper house, with theHouse of Representatives as the lower house. This set up continued until the1935 Constitution of the Philippines was set into force, creating aunicameral National Assembly under theCommonwealth of the Philippines . Amendments that took effect in 1941 restored thebicameral setup, creating theCommonwealth Congress . However,World War II intervened, and legislatorselected in 1941 were not able to serve. The invading Japanese set up theSecond Philippine Republic that convened its ownNational Assembly .
The Allies reconquered the Philippines and the legislators elected in 1941 who are either still alive or are not arrested for collaboration convened in 1945. The Americans granted independence on July 4, 1946, and the Commonwealth Congress was renamed as Congress of the Republic of the Philippines. This will continue until the declaration of martial law by PresidentFerdinand Marcos on September 23, 1972, which effectively dissolved Congress. Marcos then exercised legislative power; his1973 Constitution created theunicameral Batasang Pambansa , aparliament . The Batasang Pambansa first convened in 1978, and will continue to exist until the1986 People Power Revolution that overthrew Marcos from power. PresidentCorazon Aquino appointed a constitutional commission that drafted the1987 Constitution which restored the bicameral Congress with thepresidential system of government.
Per legislative term [ edit ] # Legislature Upper house Lower (or sole) house First convened Era Name # Name Election date Election results Total Name Election Results Total 1 Malolos Congress Unicameral assembly Revolutionary Congress June 23 to September 10, 1898 68 nonpartisan 136 September 15, 1898 Revolutionary government Assembly of Representatives First Republic 2 Taft Commission 2nd Unicameral assembly Philippine Commission Unelected 5–8 March 16, 1900 U.S. military government U.S. Insular Government 3 Philippine Legislature 1st Philippine Commission Unelected 8–9 Philippine Assembly July 30, 1907 59Nacionalista Progresista 80 October 16, 1907 4 2nd 9–10 November 2, 1909 62Nacionalista Progresista 81 March 28, 1910 5 3rd 7–8 June 4, 1912 62Nacionalista Progresista 81 October 16, 1912 6 4th Senate October 3, 1916 20Nacionalista Progresista 24 House of Representatives June 6, 1916 75Nacionalista Progresista Democrata 90 October 16, 1916 7 5th June 3, 1919 10Nacionalista Democrata 24 June 3, 1919 83Nacionalista Democrata 90 October 16, 1919 8 6th June 6, 1922 4 ColectivistaDemocrata 24 June 6, 1922 35 ColectivistaDemocrata 93 July 21, 1922 9 7th June 2, 1925 7Nacionalista Democrata 24 June 2, 1925 64Nacionalista Democrata 92 July 16, 1925 10 8th June 5, 1928 9Nacionalista Democrata 24 June 5, 1928 71Nacionalista Democrata 94 July 16, 1928 11 9th June 2, 1931 7Nacionalista Democrata 24 June 2, 1931 68Nacionalista Democrata 86 July 16, 1931 12 10th June 5, 1934 8Nacionalista 3 Pro Independencia 24 June 5, 1934 70 Pro Independencia Sakdalista 92 July 16, 1934 13 Constitutional Convention 1st Unicameral assembly Constitutional Convention July 10, 1934 202 nonpartisan 202 July 30, 1934 14 National Assembly of the Commonwealth 1st Unicameral assembly National Assembly September 16, 1935 64 Democratico 89 November 25, 1935 Commonwealth 15 2nd November 8, 1938 98Nacionalista 98 January 24, 1939 16 National Assembly of the Republic Unicameral assembly September 20, 1943 108KALIBAPI 108 September 25, 1943 Second Republic 17 Commonwealth Congress 1st Senate November 11, 1941 24Nacionalista 24 House of Representatives November 11, 1941 95Nacionalista 98 June 9, 1945 Commonwealth 18 2nd April 23, 1946 8Liberal Nacionalista Popular Front 24 April 23, 1946 49Liberal Nacionalista Democratic Alliance 98 May 25, 1946 Congress 1st July 5, 1946 Third Republic November 11, 1947 7Liberal Nacionalista 24 19 2nd November 8, 1949 8Liberal 24 November 8, 1949 60Liberal Nacionalista Liberal (Avelino wing) 100 December 30, 1949 November 13, 1951 8Nacionalista 24 20 3rd November 10, 1953 5Nacionalista Democratic Citizens' 24 November 10, 1953 59Nacionalista Liberal Democratic 102 January 25, 1954 November 8, 1955 8Nacionalista 24 21 4th November 12, 1957 6Nacionalista Liberal 24 November 12, 1957 82Nacionalista Liberal NCP 102 January 27, 1958 November 10, 1959 5Nacionalista Liberal NCP 24 22 5th November 14, 1961 4Liberal Nacionalista Progressive 24 November 14, 1961 74Nacionalista Liberal 104 January 22, 1962 November 12, 1963 4Liberal Nacionalista 24 23 6th November 9, 1965 5Liberal Nacionalista NCP 24 November 9, 1965 61Liberal Nacionalista 104 January 17, 1966 November 14, 1967 6Nacionalista Liberal 24 24 7th November 11, 1969 6Nacionalista Liberal 24 November 11, 1969 88Nacionalista Liberal 110 January 26, 1970 November 8, 1971 5Liberal Nacionalista 24 25 Constitutional Convention 2nd Unicameral assembly Constitutional Convention November 10, 1970 320 nonpartisan 320 June 1, 1971 President had legislative powers.Marcos dictatorship New Society 26 Batasang Pambansa Interim Unicameral assembly Batasang Pambansa April 7 and 27, 1978 150KBL Pusyon Bisaya 190 June 12, 1978 Fourth Republic 27 Regular May 14, 1984 114KBL UNIDO 200 July 23, 1984 28 Constitutional Commission 3rd Unicameral assembly Constitutional Commission Unelected 48 June 2, 1986 Provisional Government President had legislative powers.29 Congress 8th Senate May 11, 1987 22LABAN GAD 24 House of Representatives May 11, 1987 103LABAN GAD 214 July 24, 1987 Fifth Republic 30 9th May 11, 1992 16LDP NPC Lakas Liberal/PDP–Laban 24 May 11, 1992 86LDP Lakas NPC Liberal /PDP–Laban 216 July 27, 1992 31 10th May 8, 1995 9Lakas-Laban NPC 24 May 8, 1995 157Lakas-Laban NPC 220 June 26, 1995 32 11th May 11, 1998 7LAMMP Lakas 24 May 11, 1998 111Lakas LAMMP Liberal party-lists 257 July 27, 1998 33 12th May 14, 2001 8PPC Puwersa ng Masa 24 May 14, 2001 79Lakas NPC LDP Liberal party-lists 256 July 23, 2001 34 13th May 10, 2004 7K4 KNP 24 May 10, 2004 92Lakas NPC Liberal LDP party-lists 261 July 26, 2004 35 14th May 14, 2007 8GO TEAM Unity 24 May 14, 2007 89Lakas KAMPI NPC Liberal Nacionalista party-lists 271 July 23, 2007 36 15th May 10, 2010 3Liberal Nacionalista PMP Lakas 24 May 10, 2010 107Lakas Liberal NPC Nacionalista party-lists 286 July 26, 2010 37 16th May 13, 2013 9Team PNoy UNA 24 May 13, 2013 112Liberal NPC NUP Nacionalista Lakas UNA party-lists 293 July 22, 2013 38 17th May 9, 2016 7KDM PGP UNA 24 May 9, 2016 115Liberal NPC Nacionalista NUP UNA party-lists 297 July 25, 2016 39 18th May 13, 2019 9HNP NPC UNA 24 May 13, 2019 82PDP–Laban Nacionalista NPC NUP Liberal Lakas party-lists 304 July 22, 2019 40 19th May 9, 2022 4NPC Akbayan Nacionalista PDP–Laban PMP
24 May 9, 2022 66PDP–Laban Nacionalista NPC NUP Lakas Liberal
316 July 25, 2022 41 20th May 12, 2025 3Nacionalista PDP NPC KANP Lakas Liberal
24 May 12, 2025 103Lakas NUP NPC PFP Nacionalista Liberal
317 July 28, 2025
These are at the start of every legislature. A politician may switch parties mid-term. Appointed members appear after the plus sign (+).
House of Representatives [ edit ] 1987–present Year KBL LP NP PDP Lakas [ b] LDP NPC PMP Reporma Aksyon NUP UNA PFP Others Party-list Ind Total 1987 11 16 4 43 49 coalitions, 24 Lakas ng Bansa, 19UNIDO , 2GAD , 2PnB , 1LABAN , 6 minor parties 0+14 23 214 1992 3 7 41 86 30 14 coalitions, 11Koalisyong Pambansa , 2 minor parties 0+15 6 216 1995 1 5 1 1 100 17 22 1 25Lakas-Laban , 14 hybrid coalitions, 9 administration coalitions, 1 opposition coalition, 1PRP 0+24 7 226 1998 15 111 9 55 4 1 4PROMDI , 5 minor parties 14 2 258 2001 19 2 79 21 42 4 2 2 3PROMDI , 1PDSP , 1KAMPI , 1PPC , 1 NPC/LDP, 17 minor parties, 5 others 16 8 261 2004 1 29 2 2 92 15 53 5 1 2 2KAMPI , 1PDSP 28 4 261 2007 1 23 11 5 89 5 28 4 44KAMPI , 3PDSP , 1 Lingkod Taguig 53 4 271 2010 1 47 26 2 107 2 29 6 1LM , 1PDSP 57 7 286 2013 1 112 18 14 2 42 24 10 1CDP , 4 minor parties 59 6 293 2016 115 24 3 4 2 42 1 23 11 8 minor parties 59 4 297 2019 18 42 82 12 2 37 1 1 25 5 1CDP , 1PRP , 14 minor parties 61 2 304 2022 10 36 66 26 1 35 2 33 1 2 3PRP , 2PDDS , 1CDP , 35 minor parties 63 6 316 2025 6 22 2 103 2 31 2 3 31 1 27 1PRP , 1CDP , 22 minor parties 63 11 317
Party-list elections [ edit ] This includes all parties that have won at least 2 seats in any election.
Legend Gaps refer to instances when the legislature was unicameral. Seats Election 0 5 10 15 20 25 1907 1925 1941 1953 1965 1987 2007 Nacionalista Progresista Democrata Unipersonalata Liberal Popular Front Democratic NCP PPP UNIDO GAD LDP Lakas NPC LAMMP/PMP PDP-Laban UNA Other Independent Philippine Senate timeline
House of Representatives [ edit ] Gaps from 1946 to 1971 refer to instances when there was no lower house election for it was a midterm election (senators have 6-year terms withstaggered elections every two years, while representatives have 4-year terms). Starting in 1995, a midterm election includes both upper and lower house elections (senators have 6-year terms with staggered elections every three years, while representatives have 3-year terms). Seats Election 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 1907 1925 1941 1953 1965 1987 2007 Nacionalista Progresista Democrata Pro-Independencia KALIBAPI Liberal KBL UNIDO PDP-Laban LDP Lakas NPC PMP KAMPI NUP UNA Others Independent Party-lists Philippine House timeline
Chronological timeline [ edit ] ^ Also formerly known as Nacionalista–Colectivista and Nacionalista–Consolidado. ^a b Known asLakas–CMD from 1991 to 2009,Lakas–Kampi–CMD from 2009 to 2012, andLakas–CMD again from 2012 to the present.
