President of the Philippines

The President is the head of state and of the government of the Republic of the Philippines. The president heads the Executive branch of the government, which includes the Cabinet, and is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

According to the current constitution (1987), the President must be at least 40 years of age, a Filipino citizen by birth, and is a resident of the Philippines for the past 10 years prior to election. The Filipinos directly elect the president who wins on a plurality vote. The president serves a term of six years and may no longer run for re-election, unless he/she becomes president through constitutional succession and have served for no more than 4 years as president.

Table of contents

1 The Presidents

1.1 First Republic
1.2 Commonwealth of the Philippines
1.3 Second Republic (under Japan)
1.4 Third Republic

2 External Links

The Presidents

The Philippines has had a total of fourteen presidents. Despite the differences in constitutions and government, the line of presidents is considered to be continuous. For instance, the current president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is considered the 14th president.

While Filipinos consider Aguinaldo to be the first president, he is not internationally recognized because the First Republic fell under the United States following the Philippine-American War. Manuel L. Quezon is considered to be the first president (and the first to win an election—Aguinaldo was appointed) in international diplomatic circles.