Senators serve six-year terms with a maximum of two consecutive terms, with half of the senators elected instaggered elections every three years. When the Senate was restored by the1987 Constitution, the 24 senators who were elected in 1987 served until 1992. In 1992, the 12 candidates for the Senate obtaining the highest number of votes served until 1998, while the next 12 served until 1995. Thereafter, each senator elected serves the full six years. From 1945 to 1972, the Senate was a continuing body, with only eight seats up every two years.
Aside from having its concurrence on every bill in order to be passed for thepresident's signature to become a law, the Senate is the only body that can concur withtreaties and tryimpeachment cases. Thepresident of the Senate is the presiding officer and highest-ranking official of the Senate. They are elected by the entire body to be their leader and are second in thePhilippine presidential line of succession. The current officeholder isFrancis Escudero.
Future presidentManuel L. Quezon, who was thenPhilippine Resident Commissioner, encouraged future presidentSergio Osmeña, thenSpeaker of the House, to run for the leadership of the Senate, but Osmeña preferred to continue leading the lower house. Quezon then ran for the Senate and becameSenate President serving for 19 years (1916–1935).
This setup continued until 1935, when thePhilippine Independence Act or the "Tydings–McDuffie Act" was passed by theU.S. Congress which granted the Filipinos the right to frame their own constitution in preparation for their independence, wherein they established a unicameralNational Assembly of the Philippines, effectively abolishing the Senate. Not long after the adoption of the 1935 Constitution several amendments began to be proposed. By 1938, the National Assembly began consideration of these proposals, which included restoring the Senate as the upper chamber of Congress. The amendment of the 1935 Constitution to have a bicameral legislature was approved in 1940 and thefirst biennial elections for the restored upper house was held in November 1941. Instead of the old senatorial districts, senators were elected via the entire country serving as anat-large district, although still under plurality-at-large voting, with voters voting up to eight candidates, and the eight candidates with the highest number of votes being elected. While the Senate from 1916 to 1935 had exclusive confirmation rights over executive appointments, as part of the compromises that restored the Senate in 1941, the power of confirming executive appointments has been exercised by a jointCommission on Appointments composed of members of both houses. However, the Senate since its restoration and the independence of the Philippines in 1946 has the power to ratify treaties.
The Senate finally convened in 1945 and served as the upper chamber of Congress from thereon until the declaration ofmartial law by PresidentFerdinand Marcos in 1972, which shut down Congress. The Senate was resurrected in 1987 upon the ratification of the1987 Constitution. However, instead of eight senators being replaced after every election, it was changed to twelve.
In the Senate, the officers are theSenate president,Senate presidentpro tempore,majority floor leader,minority floor leader and the Senate secretary and the Senate sergeant at arms who are elected by the senators from among the employees and staff of the Senate. Meanwhile, the Senate president, Senate president pro-tempore, the majority floor leader and the minority floor leader are elected by the senators from among themselves.
Article VI, Section 2 of the1987 Philippine Constitution provides that the Senate shall be composed of 24 senators who shall be elected at-large by the qualified voters of thePhilippines, as may be provided by law.
The composition of the Senate is smaller in number as compared to theHouse of Representatives. The members of this chamber are elected at large by the entire electorate. The rationale for this rule intends to make the Senate a training ground for national leaders and possibly a springboard for thepresidency.[1]
It follows also that the senator will have a broader outlook of the problems of the country, instead of being restricted by narrow viewpoints and interests by having a national rather than only a district constituency.[1]
TheSenate Electoral Tribunal (SET) composed of threeSupreme Court justices and six senators determines election protests on already-seated senators. There had been three instances where the SET has replaced senators due to election protests, the last of which was in 2011 when the tribunalawarded the protest ofKoko Pimentel againstMigz Zubiri.[2]
The qualifications for membership in the Senate are expressly stated in Section 3, Art. VI of the1987 Philippine Constitution as follows:
No person shall be a Senator unless he is a natural-born citizen of thePhilippines, and on the day of the election, is at least 35 years of age, able to read and write, a registered voter, and a resident of thePhilippines for not less than two years immediately preceding the day of the election.
The age is fixed at 35 and must be possessed on the day of the elections, that is, when the polls are opened and the votes cast, and not on the day of the proclamation of the winners by the board of canvassers.
With regard to the residence requirements, it was ruled in the case ofLim v. Pelaez that it must be the place where one habitually resides and to which he, after absence, has the intention of returning.
Under theConstitution, "Congress shall convene once every year on the fourth Monday of July for its regular session...". During this time, the Senate is organized to elect its officers. Specifically, the1987 Philippine Constitution provides a definite statement to it:
(2) Each House shall choose such other officers as it may deem necessary.
(3) Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its Members, suspend or expel a Member. A penalty of suspension, when imposed, shall not exceed sixty days.
— Article VI, Section 16, paragraphs 1 to 3, The Constitution of the Philippines
By virtue of these provisions of the1987 Philippine Constitution, the Senate adopts its own rules, otherwise known as the "Rules of the Senate." The Rules of the Senate provide the following officers: apresident, apresidentpro tempore, a secretary and a sergeant-at-arms.
Following this set of officers, the Senate as an institution can then be grouped into the Senate Proper and the Secretariat. The former belongs exclusively to the members of the Senate as well as its committees, while the latter renders support services to the members of the Senate.
The Senate ratified theReciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), a treaty between the Defense forces of the Philippines and Japan on December 16, 2024
The Senate was modeled upon theUnited States Senate; the two chambers of Congress have roughly equal powers, and every bill or resolution that has to go through both houses needs the consent of both chambers before being passed for the president's signature. Once a bill is defeated in the Senate, it is lost. Once a bill is approved by the Senate onthird reading, the bill is passed to the House of Representatives, unless an identical bill has also been passed by the lower house. When a counterpart bill in the lower house is different from the one passed by the Senate, either a bicameral conference committee is created consisting of members from both chambers of Congress to reconcile the differences, or either chamber may instead approve the other chamber's version.
While franchise andmoney bills originate in the House of Representatives, the Senate may still propose or concur with amendments. Only the Senate has the power to approve, via a two-thirds supermajority, or denounce treaties, and the power to try and convict, via a two-thirds supermajority, an impeached official.
A Senate session during the18th Congress inside the GSIS building with other senators on remote locations via virtual conference during theCOVID-19 pandemic.
The Senate previously met at theOld Legislative Building inManila until May 1997. The Senate occupied the upper floors (the Session Hall now restored to its semi-former glory) while the House of Representatives occupied the lower floors (now occupied by the permanent exhibit ofJuan Luna'sSpoliarium as the museum's centerpiece), with theNational Library at the basement. When the Legislative Building was ruined in World War II, the House of Representatives temporarily met at the Old Japanese Schoolhouse at Lepanto Street (modern-day S. H. Loyola Street),[4] while the Senate's temporary headquarters was at the half-ruinedManila City Hall.[5] Congress then returned to the Legislative Building in 1950 upon its reconstruction. When PresidentFerdinand Marcos dissolved Congress in 1972, he built a new legislative complex inQuezon City. The unicameral parliament known as theBatasang Pambansa eventually met there in 1978. With the restoration of the bicameral legislature in 1987, the House of Representatives inherited the complex at Quezon City, now called theBatasang Pambansa Complex, while the Senate returned to the Congress Building, until the GSIS Building was finished in 1997. Thus, the country's two houses of Congress meet at different places inMetro Manila.
The Senate would eventually move to theNew Senate Building at the Navy Village inFort Bonifacio,Taguig by 2025 at the earliest.[6] As the Senate has rented GSIS for the office space, it asked theBases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to present suitable sites for it to move to, with the Senate eyeing the Navy Village property alongLawton Avenue as its favored site.[7] In 2018, a building designed byAECOM was chosen as winner for the new home for the Senate and was expected to be built by 2022. Civil works to erect the building had been awarded to Hilmarcs Construction Corporation, the same company the Senate investigated for alleged overpriced construction of theMakati City Hall Parking Building II in 2015.[8] The reception to the design was mixed, with some Filipino netizens comparing it to agarbage can.[9] By early 2021, the New Senate Building's construction was delayed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.[10]
This is how the Senate looked like after the beginning of every Congress under the 1987 constitution. The parties are arranged alphabetically, with independents at the rightmost side. Vacancies are denoted by dashes after the independents. Senators may switch parties or become independents mid-term.
Manuel Roxas – 5th president, also served as Senate president and 2nd speaker of the House of Representatives. First Filipino to have served as chief of the upper and lower house. Recipient of theQuezon Service Cross.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – The first female vice president, the 10th vice president overall, the second female president, the 14th president, and the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Marcelo Fernan – 18th Chief Justice (1988–1991) and former Senate President (1998–1999); only Filipino to have served as chief of the Senate and the Judiciary.
Benigno Aquino Jr. – Marcos-era opposition leader, husband of the 11th presidentCorazon C. Aquino, and father of the 15th President Benigno S. Aquino III.
Eulogio Rodriguez – former Senate President known as the "Grand Old Man of Philippine Politics"
Lorenzo Tañada – Marcos-era opposition leader, and longest serving senator of 24 years tied withTito Sotto andFranklin Drilon from 1947 to 1972. Dubbed "The Grand Old Man of Philippine Politics".
Jovito Salonga – former Senate President, Marcos-era opposition leader, former Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).
Rene Saguisag – human rights lawyer during the Marcos dictatorship.
Neptali Gonzales – elected three times as Senate president, former Minister of Justice, member of Batasang Pambansa, Vice Governor of Rizal, and dean of the College of Law of the Far Eastern University.
Franklin Drilon – Senate President, former Liberal Party chairman, and tied with Lorenzo Tañada for the longest tenure as elected senator.
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