List of female senators of the Philippines

Main article: List of Senators of the Philippines

This is a list of women senators of the Philippines. It is a guide to identify the women in the Philippines who have served as senators in the Senate of the Philippines, as distinct from the existing whole list of Philippine senators.

Since 1947, there have been 23 Filipino women senators in Philippine history. In the ongoing 19th Congress, there are 7 incumbent female senators.

History

Female senators of the 17th congress in 2018.

The first female senator elected in the Philippines was Geronima Pecson, who reaped the third largest number of votes during the Philippine senatorial elections of 1947. During her senatorial term, Pecson headed the Senate Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Health and Public Welfare, and the Joint Congressional Committee on Education.^[1]

Eva Estrada-Kalaw was the first woman to be re-elected as senator.

Nikki Coseteng was the youngest senator during the 9th and 10th Congress. She was first elected in 1992 and then re-elected in 1995.

Loren Legarda is the first Filipino woman senator to top the Senate race twice in 1998 and 2007. She also became the first Filipino woman to become Majority Floor Leader of the Senate. She was also the youngest senator during the 11th Congress.

Pia Cayetano is the youngest woman elected senator in Philippine history at the age of 38. She was elected in 2004, then re-elected in 2010. She returned to the Senate in 2019.

Loi Ejercito Estrada became the first First Spouse (to Joseph Ejercito Estrada) to be elected in the Senate. She served from 2001 to 2007 after her husband's removal from the presidency in 2001.

Leticia Ramos-Shahani became the first Filipino woman to become President pro tempore of the Senate in 1993.

Santanina Rasul is the first Filipina Muslim senator.

Tecla San Andres Ziga was the first woman in the Philippines to top the bar examinations for law degree graduates. She was elected as a senator in 1963.^[2]

Miriam Defensor Santiago was the first Filipino and first Asian from a developing country to be elected as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on December 12, 2011.^[3] She later resigned the post due to suspected ME/CFS, which turned out to be lung cancer.^[4][5]

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the first female senator who was elected as Vice President (1998–2001) and later installed to the presidency (2001–2010).

Risa Hontiveros is the Philippines' first socialist woman senator, representing the Akbayan party.

Female senators

 *  denotes incumbent senator

#	Senator	Full name	Election	Years in service	Congress	Prior political experience	Party
1	Magnolia Antonino	Magnolia Rodriguez Welborn-Antonino	1967	1967–1972	6th, 7th	Representative, from La Union's 1st district (1965–1967)		Nacionalista
2	Tessie Aquino-Oreta	Maria Teresa Aquino Aquino-Oreta	1998	1998–2004	11th 12th	Representative, Malabon-Navotas's lone district (1987–1998)		LDP
3	Helena Z. Benitez	Helena Zoila Tirona Benitez	1967	1967–1972	6th, 7th			Nacionalista
4	Nancy Binay	Maria Lourdes Nancy Sombillo Binay Angeles	2013 2019	2013–present	16th, 17th 18th, 19th	Personal assistant to Vice President Jejomar Binay (2010–2013)		UNA
5	Pia Cayetano	Pilar Juliana Schramm Cayetano	2004 2010 2019	2004–2016 2019–present	13th, 14th 15th, 16th 18th, 19th	Representative, Taguig's Lone district (2016–2019)		Nacionalista
6	Nikki Coseteng	Anna Dominique Marquez-Lim Coseteng	1992 1995	1992–2001	9th 10th 11th	Representative, Quezon City's 3rd district (1987–1992)		NPC
7	Leila de Lima	Leila Norma Eulalia Josefa Magistrado de Lima	2016	2016–2022	17th, 18th	Secretary of Justice (2010–2015)		Liberal
8	Miriam Defensor-Santiago	Miriam Palma Defensor-Santiago	1995 2004 2010	1995–2001 2004–2016	10th 11th 13th 14th 15th 16th	Secretary of Agrarian Reform (1989–1990)		PRP
9	Loi Ejercito	Luisa Fernandez Pimentel-Ejercito	2001	2001–2007	12th, 13th	First Lady of the Philippines (1998–2001)		Independent (to 2004)
								PMP
10	Eva Estrada-Kalaw	Eva Reynada Estrada-Kalaw	1965 1971	1965–1972	6th, 7th			Nacionalista
11	Risa Hontiveros	Ana Theresia Navarro Hontiveros-Baraquel	2016 2022	2016–present	17th, 18th, 19th	Representative, Akbayan (2004–2010)		Akbayan
12	Maria Kalaw-Katigbak	Maria Villanueva Kalaw-Katigbak	1961	1961–1967	5th, 6th	None		Liberal
13	Loren Legarda	Lorna Regina Bautista Legarda	1998 2007 2013 2022	1998–2004, 2007–2019, 2022–present	11th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th	Representative, Antique's Lone district (2019–2022)		Lakas (to 2003)
								Independent (2004)
								NPC (2nd/3rd/4th terms)
14	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo	Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo	1992 1995	1992–1998	9th, 10th	Undersecretary of Trade and Industry (1989–1992)		Lakas
15	Jamby Madrigal	Maria Ana Consuelo Abad Santos Madrigal-Valade	2004	2004–2010	13th 14th	Presidential Adviser for Children's Affairs (1999–2001)		LDP (to 2007)
								PDP–Laban (to 2009)
								Independent
16	Pacita Madrigal-Warns	Maria Paz Paterno Madrigal-Warns	1955	1955–1961	3rd, 4th	Secretary of Social Welfare and Development (1953–1955)		Nacionalista
17	Imee Marcos	Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios Romualdez Marcos	2019	2019–present	18th, 19th	Representative, Ilocos Norte's 2nd district (1998–2007) Governor of Ilocos Norte (2010–2019)		Nacionalista
18	Geronima Pecson	Geronima Palisoc Tomelden Pecson	1947	1947–1953	1st, 2nd	Assistant Executive Secretary to President Manuel Roxas		Liberal
19	Grace Poe	Mary Grace Natividad Sonora Poe Llamanzares	2013 2019	2013–present	16th, 17th, 18th, 19th	Chair, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (2010–2012)		Independent
20	Leticia Ramos-Shahani	Leticia Valdez Ramos-Shahani	1987 1992	1987–1998	8th, 9th, 10th	Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs (1981–1986)		LDP (to 1992)
								Lakas
21	Nina Rasul	Santanina Centi Tillah Rasul	1987 1992	1987–1995	8th, 9th	Commissioner for Muslim and Other Ethnic Minorities (1978–1987)		Liberal (to 1992)
								Lakas
22	Cynthia Villar	Cynthia Ampaya Aguilar Villar	2013 2019	2013-present	16th, 17th, 18th, 19th	Representative, Las Piñas's lone district (2001–2010)		Nacionalista
23	Tecla Ziga	Tecla San Andres-Ziga	1963	1963–1969	5th, 6th	Secretary of Social Welfare and Development (1962–1963)		Liberal

Timeline of female senators

Per Congress

Women voted for their right suffrage and to run for public office in the 1937 Philippine women's suffrage plebiscite. The National Assembly was a unicameral legislature at this time. The 1940 Philippine constitutional plebiscites restored, among other things, the bicameral Congress, and the Senate was first elected in 1941.

Election	Elected	Congress	Session	Composition
1941	0 / 24	1st Commonwealth Congress		0 / 24
1946	0 / 24	2nd Commonwealth Congress	1st–2nd	0 / 24
		1st Congress of the Philippines
1947	1 / 16		3rd–4th	1 / 24
1949	0 / 8	2nd Congress of the Philippines	1st–2nd	1 / 24
1951	0 / 9		3rd–4th	1 / 24
1953	0 / 8	3rd Congress of the Philippines	1st–2nd	0 / 24
1955	1 / 9		3rd–4th	1 / 24
1957	0 / 8	4th Congress of the Philippines	1st–2nd	1 / 24
1959	0 / 8		3rd–4th	1 / 24
1961	1 / 8	5th Congress of the Philippines	1st–2nd	1 / 24
1963	1 / 8		3rd–4th	2 / 24
1965	1 / 8	6th Congress of the Philippines	1st–2nd	3 / 24
1967	1 / 8		3rd–4th	3 / 24
1969	0 / 8	7th Congress of the Philippines	1st–2nd	3 / 24
1971	1 / 8		3rd–4th	3 / 24
1987	2 / 24	8th Congress of the Philippines		2 / 24
1992	4 / 24	9th Congress of the Philippines		4 / 24
1995	3 / 12	10th Congress of the Philippines		4 / 24
1998	2 / 12	11th Congress of the Philippines		4 / 24
2001	1 / 13	12th Congress of the Philippines		3 / 24
2004	3 / 12	13th Congress of the Philippines		4 / 24
2007	1 / 12	14th Congress of the Philippines		4 / 24
2010	2 / 12	15th Congress of the Philippines		3 / 24
2013	4 / 12	16th Congress of the Philippines		6 / 24
2016	2 / 12	17th Congress of the Philippines		6 / 24
2019	5 / 12	18th Congress of the Philippines		7 / 24
2022	2 / 12	19th Congress of the Philippines		7 / 24