List of legislatures of the Philippines explained

The Philippines has been governed by legislatures since 1898. The country has had different setups, with legislatures under the presidential system and the parliamentary system, and with legislatures having one or two chambers.

The first national legislature in the Philippines was the Malolos Congress that convened in the Barasoain Church at Malolos, Bulacan. Convened after the declaration of independence from Spain at the height of the Philippine Revolution, the Congress ratified the declaration, and drafted a constitution. With the capture of President Emilio Aguinaldo during the ensuing Philippine–American War, the unrecognized First Philippine Republic fell.

The Americans then sent several commissions to assess the situation; these eventually became the Philippine Commission. With the passage of the Philippine Bill of 1902, the Philippine Commission eventually became an appointive upper house of the new Philippine Legislature, of which the wholly elected Philippine Assembly was the lower house. The passage of the Philippine Autonomy Act instituted a mostly elective Senate as the upper house, with the House of Representatives as the lower house. This set up continued until the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines was set into force, creating a unicameral National Assembly under the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Amendments that took effect in 1941 restored the bicameral setup, creating the Commonwealth Congress. However, World War II intervened, and legislators elected in 1941 were not able to serve. The invading Japanese set up the Second Philippine Republic that convened its own National 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 President Ferdinand Marcos on September 23, 1972, which effectively dissolved Congress. Marcos then exercised legislative power; his 1973 Constitution created the unicameral Batasang Pambansa, a parliament. The Batasang Pambansa first convened in 1978, and will continue to exist until the 1986 People Power Revolution that overthrew Marcos from power. President Corazon Aquino appointed a constitutional commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution which restored the bicameral Congress with the presidential system of government.

List

Per legislative term

#! colspan="2"

Legislature	Upper house				Lower (or sole) house				First convened	width=100px rowspan="2"	Era
width=100px	Name		width=100px	Name	Election date	Election results	Total seats	width=100px		Name	Election	Results	Total seats
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	59 Nacionalista 16 Progresista 5 others	80	October 16, 1907
4		2nd				9–10		November 2, 1909	62 Nacionalista 17 Progresista 2 independent	81	March 28, 1910
5		3rd				7–8		June 4, 1912	62 Nacionalista 16 Progresista 3 independent	81	October 16, 1912
6		4th	Senate	October 3, 1916	20 Nacionalista 1 Progresista	24	House of Representatives	June 6, 1916	75 Nacionalista 7 Progresista 2 Democrata 6 independent	90	October 16, 1916
7		5th		June 3, 1919	10 Nacionalista 1 Democrata	24		June 3, 1919	83 Nacionalista 4 Democrata 3 independent	90	October 16, 1919
8		6th		June 6, 1922	4 Colectivista 4 Democrata 3 Unipersonalista	24		June 6, 1922	35 Colectivista 29 Unipersonalista 26 Democrata 3 independent	93	July 21, 1922
9		7th		June 2, 1925	7 Nacionalista 4 Democrata	24		June 2, 1925	64 Nacionalista 22 Democrata 6 independent	92	July 16, 1925
10		8th		June 5, 1928	9 Nacionalista 2 Democrata	24		June 5, 1928	71 Nacionalista 16 Democrata 7 independent	94	July 16, 1928
11		9th		June 2, 1931	7 Nacionalista 4 Democrata	24		June 2, 1931	68 Nacionalista 13 Democrata 5 independent	86	July 16, 1931
12		10th		June 5, 1934	8 Nacionalista	24		June 5, 1934	19 Consolidado 3 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		Unicameral assembly				National Assembly	September 16, 1935	64 Democratico 19 Pro Independencia 6 independent	89	November 25, 1935	Commonwealth
15		2nd						November 8, 1938	98 Nacionalista	98	January 24, 1939
16	National Assembly of the Republic		Unicameral assembly					September 20, 1943	108 KALIBAPI	108	September 25, 1943	Second Republic
17	Commonwealth Congress	1st	Senate	November 11, 1941	24 Nacionalista	24	House of Representatives	November 11, 1941	95 Nacionalista 3 independent	98	June 9, 1945	Commonwealth
18		2nd		April 23, 1946	8 Liberal 7 Nacionalista 1 Popular Front	24		April 23, 1946	49 Liberal 35 Nacionalista 6 Democratic Alliance 8 others	98	May 25, 1946
	Congress	1st									July 5, 1946	Third Republic
				November 11, 1947	7 Liberal 1 Nacionalista	24
19		2nd		November 8, 1949	8 Liberal	24		November 8, 1949	60 Liberal 33 Nacionalista 6 Liberal (Avelino wing) 1 independent	100	December 30, 1949
				November 13, 1951	8 Nacionalista	24
20		3rd		November 10, 1953	5 Nacionalista 2 Democratic 1 Citizens'	24		November 10, 1953	59 Nacionalista 31 Liberal 11 Democratic 1 independent	102	January 25, 1954
				November 8, 1955	8 Nacionalista	24
21		4th		November 12, 1957	6 Nacionalista 2 Liberal	24		November 12, 1957	82 Nacionalista 19 Liberal 1 NCP	102	January 27, 1958
				November 10, 1959	5 Nacionalista 2 Liberal 1 NCP	24
22		5th		November 14, 1961	4 Liberal 2 Nacionalista 2 Progressive	24		November 14, 1961	74 Nacionalista 29 Liberal 1 independent	104	January 22, 1962
				November 12, 1963	4 Liberal 4 Nacionalista	24
23		6th		November 9, 1965	5 Liberal 2 Nacionalista 1 NCP	24		November 9, 1965	61 Liberal 38 Nacionalista 5 others	104	January 17, 1966
				November 14, 1967	6 Nacionalista 1 Liberal 1 independent	24
24		7th		November 11, 1969	6 Nacionalista 2 Liberal	24		November 11, 1969	88 Nacionalista 18 Liberal 4 others	110	January 26, 1970
				November 8, 1971	5 Liberal 3 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	150 KBL 13 Pusyon Bisaya 2 others	190	June 12, 1978	Fourth Republic
27		Regular						May 14, 1984	114 KBL 61 UNIDO 8 others	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	22 LABAN 2 GAD	24	House of Representatives	May 11, 1987	103 LABAN 17 GAD 25 others	214	July 24, 1987	Fifth Republic
30		9th		May 11, 1992	16 LDP 5 NPC 2 Lakas 1 Liberal/PDP–Laban	24		May 11, 1992	86 LDP 41 Lakas 30 NPC 11 Liberal/PDP–Laban 32 others	216	July 27, 1992
31		10th		May 8, 1995	9 Lakas-Laban 3 NPC	24		May 8, 1995	157 Lakas-Laban 25 NPC 22 others	220	June 26, 1995
32		11th		May 11, 1998	7 LAMMP 5 Lakas	24		May 11, 1998	111 Lakas 64 LAMMP 15 Liberal 16 others 14 party-lists	257	July 27, 1998
33		12th		May 14, 2001	8 PPC 4 Puwersa ng Masa 1 independent	24		May 14, 2001	79 Lakas 42 NPC 21 LDP 19 Liberal 48 others 16 party-lists	256	July 23, 2001
34		13th		May 10, 2004	7 K4 5 KNP	24		May 10, 2004	92 Lakas 53 NPC 29 Liberal 15 LDP 20 others 28 party-lists	261	July 26, 2004
35		14th		May 14, 2007	8 GO 2 TEAM Unity 2 others	24		May 14, 2007	89 Lakas 44 KAMPI 28 NPC 23 Liberal 11 Nacionalista 23 others 53 party-lists	271	July 23, 2007
36		15th		May 10, 2010	3 Liberal 2 Nacionalista 2 PMP 2 Lakas 3 others	24		May 10, 2010	107 Lakas 47 Liberal 29 NPC 26 Nacionalista 20 others 57 party-lists	286	July 26, 2010
37		16th		May 13, 2013	9 Team PNoy 3 UNA	24		May 13, 2013	112 Liberal 42 NPC 24 NUP 18 Nacionalista 14 Lakas 10 UNA 15 others 57 party-lists	293	July 22, 2013
38		17th		May 9, 2016	7 KDM 4 PGP 1 UNA	24		May 9, 2016	115 Liberal 42 NPC 24 Nacionalista 23 NUP 11 UNA 23 others 59 party-lists	297	July 25, 2016
39		18th		May 13, 2019	9 HNP 1 NPC 1 UNA 1 independent	24		May 13, 2019	82 PDP–Laban 42 Nacionalista 37 NPC 25 NUP 18 Liberal 12 Lakas 27 others 61 party-lists	304	July 22, 2019
40		19th		May 9, 2022	4 NPC 1 Akbayan 1 Nacionalista 1 PDP–Laban 1 PMP 4 independent	24		May 9, 2022	66 PDP–Laban 36 Nacionalista 35 NPC 33 NUP 26 Lakas 10 Liberal 47 others 63 party-lists	316	July 25, 2022

Per party

These are at the start of every legislature. A politician may switch parties mid-term. Appointed members appear after the plus sign (+).

Senate

Year!width=40px

NP	width=40px	Prog	width=40px	Dem	width=40px	/	width=40px	LP	width=40px		width=40px	Ind	width=40px	Total
1916	20+2	1					1	24
1919	20+1	1+1	1					24
1922	11		5+2	6				24
1925	13		9+2					24
1928	17+1		5+1					24
1931	16+1		6				0+1	24
1934	15+1			7+1				24
1941	24							24
1946	14				9	1		24

Year! width="11.25%"

LP	NP		DP	NCP	PPP	Ind	Total
1947	16	7	1					24
1949	18	4	1					24
1951	14	10						24
1953	7	13		2	1			24
1955		23			1			24
1957	2	21			1			24
1959	4	19			1			24
1961	8	13			1	2		24
1963	10	11			1	2		24
1965	9	12			1	2		24
1967	7	15			1		1	24
1969	5	17			1		1	24
1971	8	15					1	24

Year!width=40px

Lakas	width=40px	LDP	width=40px	LP	width=40px	NPC	width=40px	NP	width=40px	PRP	width=40px	PDP	width=40px	PMP	width=40px	UNA	width=40px	Akbayan	Others	width=40px	Ind	width=40px	Total
1987											22 LABAN, 2 GAD		24
1992	2	16	1	5									24
1995	5	14		2	1	1						1	24
1998	9	7		2		1	1	1				2	24
2001	7	2	1				2				6 LAMP	6	24
2004	7	1	4			1	1				6 KNP, 1 Aksyon	2	24
2007	4	2	4	2	3	1	1	2			1 KAMPI, 2 UNO	1	24
2010	4	1	4	2	4	1		2				5	24
2013	2	1	4	2	5	1	1		5			3	24
2016		1	6	3	3		2		3	1		5	24
2019	1	1	4	3	4		5		1	1		4	24
2022	1	1		5	4		4	1	1	1	1 PDDS	5	24

House of Representatives

Year! width=40px

NP	width=40px	Prog	width=40px		! width=40px		width=40px	LP	Others	width=40px	Ind	width=40px	Total
1907	59	16					1 Catolico	4	80
1909	62	17						2	81
1912	62	16						3	81
1916	75	7	2					6	90
1919	83		4					3	90
1922			26				35 Colectivista, 29 Unipersonalata	3	93
1925	64		22					6	92
1928	71		16					7	94
1931	68		13					5	86
1934				70	19		3 Sakdalista		92
1935				64	19			6	89
1938	98								98
1941	95							3	98
1943							108 KALIBAPI		108
1946	35					49	6 Democratic Alliance, 3 minor parties	5	98

Year! width=40px

LP	width=40px	NP	width=40px	KBL	Others	width=40px	Ind	width=40px	Sec	width=40px	Total
1949	60	33		6 Liberal-Avelino wing	1		100
1953	31	59		11 Democratic	1		102
1957	19	82		1 NCP			102
1961	29	74			1		104
1965	61	38		1 independent Nacionalista, 1 independent Liberal	3		104
1969	18	88		2 independent Nacionalista	2		110
1978			150	13 Pusyon Bisaya, 2 minor parties		0+14	165
1984		2	114	61 UNIDO	6	0+9	183

Year! width=40px

KBL	width=40px	LP	width=40px	NP	width=40px	PDP	width=40px	Lakas	width=40px	LDP	width=40px	NPC	width=40px	PMP	Reporma	Aksyon	width=40px	NUP	width=40px	UNA	Others	width=40px	Party-list	width=40px	Ind	width=40px	Total
1987	11	16	4	43									49 coalitions, 24 Lakas ng Bansa, 19 UNIDO, 2 GAD, 2 PnB, 1 LABAN, 6 minor parties	0+14	23	214
1992	3		7		41	86	30						14 coalitions, 11 Koalisyong Pambansa, 2 minor parties	0+15	6	216
1995	1	5	1	1	100	17	22	1					25 Lakas-Laban, 14 hybrid coalitions, 9 administration coalitions, 1 opposition coalition, 1 PRP	0+24	7	226
1998		15			111		9	55	4	1			4 PROMDI, 5 minor parties	14	2	258
2001		19		2	79	21	42	4	2	2			3 PROMDI, 1 PDSP, 1 KAMPI, 1 PPC, 1 NPC/LDP, 17 minor parties, 5 others	16	8	261
2004	1	29	2	2	92	15	53	5	1	2			2 KAMPI, 1 PDSP	28	4	261
2007	1	23	11	5	89	5	28	4					44 KAMPI, 3 PDSP, 1 Lingkod Taguig	53	4	271
2010	1	47	26	2	107	2	29	6					1 LM, 1 PDSP	57	7	286
2013	1	112	18		14	2	42				24	10	1 CDP, 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 PFP, 1 CDP, 1 PRP, 14 minor parties	61	2	304
2022		10	36	66	26	1	35		2		33	1	3 PRP, 2 PFP, 2 PDDS, 1 CDP, 35 minor parties	63	6	316

Party-list elections

This includes all parties that have won at least 2 seats in any election.

!Party!1998!2001!2004!2007!2010!2013!2016!2019!2022

APEC	2	2	3	2	1			1	1
Akbayan	1	1	3	2	2	2	1		1
Alagad	1		1	2	1
Butil	1		2	2	1	1	1
Bayan Muna		3	3	3	2	2	1	3
CIBAC		1	2	2	2	2	1	2	1
Buhay		1	2	3	2	2	2	1
Anakpawis			2	2	1	1	1	1
Gabriela			2	2	2	2	2	1	1
PM		1	2
A TEACHER				2	2	2	1	1
ARC				2
AMIN		1	1	2		1	2	1
Abono				2	2	2	2	1	1
YACAP				2	1	1	1
AGAP				2	1	2	1	1	1
Ako Bikol					3	2	3	2	2
Senior Citizens					2		2	1	1
Coop-NATCCO	1		1	2	2	2	2	1	1
1-CARE					2	2	1
An Waray			1	1	2	1	1	1
OFW Family Club						2		1
Magdalo						2	1	1
ACT-CIS						1		3	3
1-PACMAN							2	2	1
ACT Teachers					1	1	2	1	1
Kabayan							2		1
Agri						1	2		1
PBA					1		2	1	1
ANG PROBINSYANO								2	1
Marino								2	1
Probinsyano Ako								2
1 Rider									2
Tingog								1	2
4Ps									2
SAGIP						1	1	1	2
Other parties	8	4	3	18	24	21	21	24	34
Total party-list seats	14	14	28	53	57	59	59	61	63

Graphical timeline

Legend

Senate

• Gaps refer to instances when the legislature was unicameral.

House of Representatives

• 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 with staggered 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).

Chronological timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:12PlotArea = top:10 bottom:100 right:130 left:20AlignBars = late

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyyPeriod = from:01/01/1898 till:06/30/2022TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1900

Colors = id:Vacant value:white id:USA value:brightblue id:abolished value:gray(0.6) id:Common value:green id:2nd value:claret id:3rd value:purple id:4th value:red id:5th value:yellow

id:linemark value:gray(0.8) id:linemark2 value:gray(0.9)

BarData = barset:PM

PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:PM

from:09/15/1898 till:11/13/1899 text:"Malolos Congress" color:abolished from:09/01/1901 till:10/16/1907 text:"2nd Philippine Commission" color:USA from:10/16/1907 till:05/20/1909 text:"1st Philippine Legislature" color:USA from:03/28/1910 till:02/06/1912 text:"2nd Philippine Legislature" color:USA from:10/16/1912 till:02/24/1916 text:"3rd Philippine Legislature" color:USA from:10/16/1916 till:02/08/1919 text:"4th Philippine Legislature" color:USA from:07/21/1919 till:02/14/1922 text:"5th Philippine Legislature" color:USA from:07/16/1922 till:02/08/1925 text:"6th Philippine Legislature" color:USA from:07/16/1925 till:11/09/1927 text:"7th Philippine Legislature" color:USA from:07/16/1928 till:11/07/1930 text:"8th Philippine Legislature" color:USA from:07/16/1931 till:05/05/1934 text:"9th Philippine Legislature" color:USA from:07/24/1934 till:11/21/1935 text:"10th Philippine Legislature" color:USA from:11/25/1935 till:08/30/1938 text:"1st National Assembly" color:Common from:01/24/1939 till:12/10/1941 text:"2nd National Assembly" color:Common from:10/17/1943 till:02/02/1944 text:"National Assembly of the Second Republic" color:2nd from:06/13/1945 till:12/20/1945 text:"1st Commonwealth Congress" color:Common from:05/25/1946 till:07/04/1946 text:"2nd Commonwealth Congress" color:Common from:07/05/1946 till:12/13/1949 text:"1st Congress" color:3rd from:12/30/1949 till:12/08/1953 text:"2nd Congress" color:3rd from:01/24/1954 till:12/10/1957 text:"3rd Congress" color:3rd from:01/27/1958 till:12/13/1961 text:"4th Congress" color:3rd from:01/22/1962 till:12/17/1965 text:"5th Congress" color:3rd from:01/17/1966 till:06/17/1969 text:"6th Congress" color:3rd from:01/26/1970 till:09/23/1972 text:"7th Congress" color:3rd from:09/23/1972 till:06/11/1978 text:"Abolished (President exercised legislative powers)" color:abolished from:06/12/1978 till:06/05/1984 text:"Interim Batasang Pambansa" color:4th from:07/23/1984 till:03/25/1986 text:"Regular Batasang Pambansa" color:4th from:03/25/1986 till:07/27/1987 text:"Abolished (President exercised legislative powers)" color:abolished from:07/27/1987 till:06/11/1992 text:"8th Congress" color:5th barset:break from:07/27/1992 till:06/30/1995 text:"9th Congress" color:5th from:07/24/1995 till:05/28/1998 text:"10th Congress" color:5th from:07/27/1998 till:06/30/2001 text:"11th Congress" color:5th from:07/21/2001 till:06/11/2004 text:"12th Congress" color:5th from:07/26/2004 till:06/08/2007 text:"13th Congress" color:5th from:07/24/2007 till:06/30/2010 text:"14th Congress" color:5th from:07/26/2010 till:06/30/2013 text:"15th Congress" color:5th from:07/22/2013 till:06/30/2016 text:"16th Congress" color:5th from:07/25/2016 till:06/30/2019 text:"17th Congress" color:5th from:07/25/2019 till:06/30/2022 text:"18th Congress" color:5th

See also

• Congress of the Philippines
• Senate of the Philippines
• House of Representatives of the Philippines

Further reading

• Book: Dieter Nohlen. Florian Grotz. Christof Hartmann. Graham Hassall. Soliman M. Santos . Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume II: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific . November 15, 2001. 9780199249596.
• Web site: Electoral Politics in the Philippines. Julio Teehankee. quezon.ph.
• Web site: Philippine Electoral Almanac . March 9, 2021.