History[edit]

Joint session of Philippine Legislature including the newly elected Senate, November 15, 1916

The post–World War II Philippine Senate in 1951: Cipriano P. Primicias, Sr., far left, debates Quintín
Paredes, far right. In the middle are Justiniano Montano, Mariano Jesús Cuenco, Enrique B. Magalona,
and Francisco Delgado; in the foreground is Edmundo Cea. Deliberations were once held at the Old
Legislative Building.

The Senate has its roots in the Philippine Commission of the Insular Government. Under the Philippine
Organic Act, from 1907 to 1916, the Philippine Commission headed by the Governor-General of the
Philippines served as the upper chamber of the Philippine Legislature, with the Philippine Assembly as
the elected lower house. At the same time the governor-general also exercised executive powers.

In August 1916 the United States Congress enacted the Philippine Autonomy Act or popularly known as
the "Jones Law", which created an elected bicameral Philippine Legislature with the Senate as the upper
chamber and with the House of Representatives of the Philippines, previously called the Philippine
Assembly, as the lower chamber. The Governor-General continued to be the head of the executive
branch of the Insular Government. Senators then were elected via senatorial districts via plurality-at-
large voting; each district grouped several provinces and each elected two senators except for "non-
Christian" provinces where the Governor-General of the Philippines appointed the senators for the
district.

Future president Manuel L. Quezon, who was then Philippine Resident Commissioner, encouraged

future president Sergio Osmeña, then Speaker 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
became Senate President serving for 19 years (1916–1935).

This setup continued until 1935, when the Philippine Independence Act or the "Tydings–McDuffie Act"
was passed by the U.S. Congress which granted the Filipinos the right to frame their own constitution in
preparation for their independence, wherein they established a unicameral National 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 the first
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 an at-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 joint Commission 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 of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972, which shut down Congress. The
Senate was resurrected in 1987 upon the ratification of the 1987 Constitution. However, instead of eight
senators being replaced after every election, it was changed to twelve.

In the Senate, the officers are the Senate President, Senate President pro tempore, Majority Floor
Leader, Minority Floor Leader and the Senate Secretary and the Senate Sergeant at Arms who shall be
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 shall
be elected by the Senators from among themselves.