Mayor of Manila

Template:Short description Template:Use Philippine English Template:Infobox Political post The City Mayor of Manila (Template:Langx, sometimes referred to as, Alkalde ng Maynila) is the head of the executive branch of Manila's city government. The mayor holds office at Manila City Hall. Like all local government heads in the Philippines, the mayor is elected via popular vote, and may not be elected for a fourth consecutive term (although the former mayor may return to office after an interval of one term). In case of death, resignation or incapacity, the vice mayor becomes the mayor.

History

Prior to the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi, Manila was a chiefdom headed by datus. From the defeat of Rajah Sulayman's forces in 1575 to the passage of the Maura Law in 1895, the chief executive of the city was appointed by the Spanish government to a person of Spanish descent. The highest position a Filipino was able to hold was the cabeza de barangay. With the passage of the Maura Law, the office of capitan municipal was established, with the people electing their own town heads, although the Spanish retained considerable influence and could veto decisions.

With the eruption of the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War, the position reverted to an appointive head. With the advent of World War II, President Manuel L. Quezon appointed Jorge B. Vargas as mayor of the City of Greater Manila (forerunner of Metro Manila) in 1941. With the liberation of Manila in 1945 by combined Filipino and American soldiers under the United States Army and the Philippine Commonwealth Army including local recognized guerrillas against the Japanese Imperial forces, the earlier setup was used once again.

With the amendment of the city's charter in 1951, the position became an elective post. The first mayoral election was in 1951, and Manila's congressman from the 2nd district Arsenio Lacson defeated incumbent Manuel de la Fuente. A few years after the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos, Manila and nearby cities like Quezon City, Caloocan, and Pasay, were overshadowed by the office of the governor of the newly created Metro Manila, whom Marcos appointed his wife, Imelda Marcos, to the position.

With Arsenio Lacson becoming the first elected mayor, the city of Manila underwent The Golden Age, was revitalized, and once again became the "Pearl of the Orient", a moniker it earned before the outbreak of the war. After Mayor Lacson's term in the 1950s, the city was led by Mayor Antonio Villegas during most of the 1960s, and Mayor Ramon Bagatsing for nearly the entire decade of the 1970s until the 1986 People Power Revolution that overthrew President Marcos.

Mayors Lacson, Villegas, and Bagatsing are often collectively considered as "the Big Three of Manila" for their rather long tenures as the city hall's chief executive (continuously for over three decades, from 1952 to 1986), but more importantly, for their indelible contribution to the development and progress of the city and their lasting legacy in uplifting the quality of life and welfare of the people of Manila.

With the ouster of Marcos following the People Power Revolution, President Corazon Aquino vacated all local executive officials and appointed officers in charge (OICs) in their place; she appointed party-mate Mel Lopez as OIC of Manila. Local elections were held in 1988, and Lopez was elected as mayor. The Local Government Code was enacted in 1991, and standardized the powers of Manila's mayor making it at par with other cities in the country.

The office of the mayor is often used as a springboard for further political ambitions. In 1961, Lacson bolted the Nacionalista Party to become the campaign manager of the Liberal Party's Diosdado Macapagal's presidential campaign. After Macapagal's victory, Lacson returned with the Nacionalistas and became a critic of the Macapagal administration. Lacson would've been likely the Nacionalista's candidate for the presidency in 1965, had not death intervened in 1962. In 1998, the sitting mayor of Manila, Alfredo Lim, did run as the Liberal Party's candidate for the presidency, but was beaten by Joseph Estrada, finishing fifth in a field of ten candidates, garnering 9% of the vote; Estrada later nominated him as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government. Lim later ran and won a Senate seat in 2004, but forfeited it three years when he ran and won as mayor again. Estrada, who was previously the mayor of bordering San Juan, defeated Lim as mayor of Manila in 2013. Their vice mayor, Isko Moreno, ran for the Senate and lost in 2016. Moreno defeated both Estrada and Lim in 2019. In 2021, Moreno announced his candidacy for president in the 2022 presidential election. Days later, Moreno's opponent Manny Pacquiao chose former mayor Lito Atienza as his running mate for vice president. Moreno, Atienza, and Pacquiao both lost their bids in 2022, respectively.

The longest-serving mayor of Manila is Ramon Bagatsing, who continuously served as the city's chief executive from 1971 until 1986. His tenure could have been longer if his term was not disrupted by the forced resignation of all local government unit heads and the appointment of officers in charge in their place after the 1986 revolution, to which Bagatsing fully supported and complied with, voluntarily handing over his position to OIC Mel Lopez.

List

No.	Image	Name of mayor	Party		Term	Start of term	End of term	Name of Vice mayor
Appointive position (1901–1951)
1	File:Arsenio Cruz-Herrera.jpg	Arsenio Cruz Herrera		Federalista	N/A	August 7, 1901	September 18, 1905Template:Efn	Ramón Fernández
2	File:Félix María Roxas y Fernández.jpg	Félix M. Roxas		Federalista		September 19, 1905	January 15, 1917
								Ramón Fernández Isabelo de los Reyes Justo Lukban Pablo Ocampo
								Pablo Ocampo
3	File:Justo Lukban.jpg	Justo Lukban		Liga Popular		January 16, 1917	March 6, 1920Template:Efn
4	File:Ramón Julio Estevan Fernández y de Castro's passport application.jpg	Ramón Fernández		Democrata		March 7, 1920	July 16, 1923Template:Efn	Juan Posadas Jr.
5	File:Senate President Eulogio Rodriguez Sr.jpg	Eulogio A. Rodriguez Sr.		Democrata		July 17, 1923	February 8, 1924Template:Efn
6	File:Miguel López Romuáldez.jpg	Miguel Romuáldez		February 9, 1924		August 31, 1927	Tomás Earnshaw
7	File:Tomas Noguera Earnshaw's passport application.jpg	Tomás Earnshaw	rowspan="3" style="background:Template:Party color;"|	Nacionalista		September 1, 1927	December 31, 1933
			Juan Posadas Jr. Isabelo de los Reyes Jorge B. Vargas
			Jorge B. Vargas
8	File:Hon. Juan Posadas, Jr.jpg	Juan Posadas Jr.				January 1, 1934	January 4, 1940Template:Efn
9	File:Senate President Eulogio Rodriguez Sr.jpg	Eulogio A. Rodriguez Sr.		January 5, 1940		August 28, 1941	Carmen Planas
10	File:Juan Nolasco.jpg	Juan G. Nolasco		August 29, 1941		December 23, 1941	Hermenegildo Atienza
11	File:Jorge Bartolomé Vargas.jpg	Jorge B. Vargas		December 24, 1941		January 26, 1942
12	File:León Guinto.jpg	Leon Guinto Sr.		January 27, 1942		July 17, 1944
13	File:Rep. Hermenegildo J. Atienza (2nd Congress).jpg	Hermenegildo Atienza		July 18, 1944		July 18, 1945	Carmen Planas
14	File:Juan Nolasco.jpg	Juan G. Nolasco		July 19, 1945		June 6, 1946
15	File:Valeriano Fugoso.png	Valeriano E. Fugoso Sr.		June 7, 1946		December 31, 1947
16	File:Manuel de la Fuente y Cobos.jpg	Manuel de la Fuente	rowspan="3" bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Liberal		January 1, 1948	December 31, 1951	Carmen Planas
			Iñigo Ed. Regalado
Elective position (1952–present)
17	File:Rep. Arsenio S. Lacson (2nd Congress).jpg	Arsenio Lacson Sr.	rowspan="3" bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Nacionalista	1952	January 1, 1952	April 15, 1962Template:Efn	Jesus Marcos Roces
			1955
			1959		Antonio Villegas
18	File:Antonio J. Villegas, Mayor of Manila, 1970.jpg	Antonio Villegas		rowspan="6" bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Liberal	April 16, 1962	December 31, 1971	Herminio A. Astorga
			1963
			1967	Felicisimo Cabigao
				Atty. Ernesto Maceda Sr.
				Atty. Danilo B. Lacuna Sr.
				Atty. Mel Lopez
19	File:Ramon Bagatsing.jpg	Ramon Bagatsing	rowspan="2" bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Liberal	1971	January 1, 1972	March 26, 1986Template:Efn	Martin B. Isidro Sr.
			James Barbers
					1980
20	File:C1IV2svWEAE-cZQ.jpg	Mel LopezTemplate:Efn		March 26, 1986		December 1, 1987	Bambi M. Ocampo
							Ernesto A. Nieva
21	File:Official Portrait of OIC Mayor Gregorio Ejercito.jpg	Gregorio EjercitoTemplate:Efn		December 2, 1987		February 2, 1988
22	File:C1IV2svWEAE-cZQ.jpg	Mel Lopez		1988	February 3, 1988	June 30, 1992	Danilo Lacuna
							Ernesto Maceda Jr.
23	File:Alfredo Lim at Mendiola.jpg	Alfredo Lim		1992	June 30, 1992	March 27, 1998Template:Efn	Lito Atienza
			bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Liberal				1995
24	File:Rep. Lito Atienza, Jr (18th Congress PH).jpg	Lito Atienza	rowspan="5" bgcolor="Template:Party color" |	Liberal	March 27, 1998	June 30, 2007	Ernesto A. Nieva
			Larry Silva
			1998				Danilo Lacuna
			2001
			2004
25	File:Alfredo Lim at Mendiola.jpg	Alfredo Lim		2007	June 30, 2007	June 30, 2013	Isko Moreno
				2010
26	File:JosephEstradajf1486.JPG	Joseph Estrada		2013	June 30, 2013	June 30, 2019
				2016			Honey Lacuna Pangan
27	File:IskoMorenoOfficialPortrait.jpg	Isko Moreno		2019	June 30, 2019	June 30, 2022
28	File:Honey Lacuna profile (cropped).jpg	Honey Lacuna Pangan		2022	June 30, 2022	June 30, 2025	Yul Servo Nieto
29	File:IskoMorenoOfficialPortrait.jpg	Isko Moreno		2025	June 30, 2025	incumbent	Angela Lei "Chi" Ilagan Atienza Valdepeñas

Timeline

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 id:LP                value:dullyellow   legend:Liberal
 id:NP                value:yellowgreen  legend:Nacionalista
 id:UNIDO             value:yellow       legend:UNIDO
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   from:01/01/1952 till:04/15/1962 text:"Arsenio Lacson"              color:NP
   from:04/15/1962 till:12/31/1971 text:"Antonio Villegas"            color:LP
   from:01/01/1972 till:03/26/1986 text:"Ramon Bagatsing"             color:KBL
   from:03/26/1986 till:12/01/1987 text:"Mel Lopez"                   color:UNIDO
   from:12/02/1987 till:02/02/1988 text:"Gregorio Ejercito"               color:Ind
   from:02/03/1988 till:06/30/1992 text:"Mel Lopez"                   color:Lakas

 barset:Lim1
   from:06/30/1992 till:03/27/1998                                        color:PRP
 barset:break
   from:01/01/1998 till:03/27/1998 text:"Alfredo Lim"                 color:LP

   barset:Second
   from:03/27/1998 till:06/30/2007 text:"Lito Atienza"                color:LP
   from:06/30/2007 till:06/30/2013 text:"Alfredo Lim"                 color:LP
   from:06/30/2013 till:06/30/2019 text:"Joseph Estrada"              color:PMP
   from:06/30/2019 till:06/30/2022 text:"Isko Moreno"                        color:Asenso
   from:06/30/2022 till:end text:"Honey Lacuna"                        color:Asenso

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Vice mayor

The vice mayor is the second-highest official of the city. The vice mayor is elected via popular vote; although most mayoral candidates have running mates, the vice mayor is elected separately from the mayor. This can result in the mayor and the vice mayor coming from different political parties.

The vice mayor is the presiding officer of the Manila City Council, although they can only vote as the tiebreaker. When a mayor is removed from office, the vice mayor becomes the mayor until the scheduled next election.

#	Name	Image	Party		Start of term	End of term
Appointive position (1901–1951)
1	File:Ramón Julio Estevan Fernández y de Castro's passport application.jpg	Ramón Fernández		August 7, 1901	August 7, 1907
2	File:Isabelo de los Reyes, Sr..jpg	Isabelo de los Reyes		August 7, 1907	August 7, 1911
3	File:Justo Lukban.jpg	Justo Lukban		Liga Popular	August 8, 1911	August 8, 1915
4	File:Pablo Ocampo.jpg	Pablo D. Ocampo		August 8, 1915	March 6, 1920
5	File:Hon. Juan Posadas, Jr.jpg	Juan Posadas Jr.			March 7, 1920	February 8, 1924
6	File:Tomas Noguera Earnshaw's passport application.jpg	Tomás Earnshaw			February 9, 1924	August 31, 1927
7	File:Hon. Juan Posadas, Jr.jpg	Juan Posadas Jr.			September 1, 1927	December 31, 1929
8	File:Isabelo de los Reyes, Sr..jpg	Isabelo de los Reyes		January 1, 1930	December 31, 1931
9	File:Jorge Bartolomé Vargas.jpg	Jorge B. Vargas		January 1, 1932	January 4, 1940
10	File:Carmen Planas.png	Carmen Planas		Young Philippines	January 5, 1940	August 28, 1941
11	File:Rep. Hermenegildo J. Atienza (2nd Congress).jpg	Hermenegildo Atienza		August 29, 1941	July 17, 1944
12	File:Carmen Planas.png	Carmen Planas		Young Philippines	July 18, 1944	December 31, 1949
13	File:Inigo Ed Regalado.jpg	Iñigo Ed. Regalado			January 1, 1950	December 31, 1951
Elective position (1952–present)
14		Bartolome Gatmaitan			January 1, 1952	December 31, 1955
15		Jesus M. R. Roces			January 1, 1956	December 30, 1959
16	File:Antonio J. Villegas, Mayor of Manila, 1970.jpg	Antonio J. Villegas		December 30, 1959	April 15, 1962
17		Herminio A. Astorga		April 16, 1962	December 31, 1967
18		Felicisimo R. Cabigao			January 1, 1968	December 31, 1969
19	File:Ernesto Maceda (cropped 2).jpg	Atty. Ernesto M. Maceda Sr.		January 1, 1970	August 31, 1970
20		Atty. Danilo B. Lacuna Sr.		September 1, 1970	April 30, 1971
21	File:C1IV2svWEAE-cZQ.jpg	Gemiliano C. López Jr.		May 1, 1971	December 31, 1971
22	File:Rep. Martin B. Isidro (8th Congress).jpg	Atty. Martin B. Isidro Sr.		January 1, 1972	December 31, 1977
23		James G. Barbers		January 1, 1978	March 26, 1986
24		Bambi M. Ocampo			March 26, 1986	April 27, 1987
25	File:Rep. Ernesto A. Nieva (13th Congress).jpg	Ernesto A. Nieva			April 28, 1987	February 2, 1988
26		Atty. Danilo B. Lacuna Sr.		February 3, 1988	January 31, 1992
27		Ernesto V.P. Maceda Jr.		February 1, 1992	June 30, 1992
28	File:Rep. Lito Atienza, Jr (18th Congress PH).jpg	José L. Atienza Jr.		June 30, 1992	March 27, 1998
29	File:Rep. Ernesto A. Nieva (13th Congress).jpg	Ernesto A. Nieva		March 27, 1998	March 28, 1998
30		Hilarion C. Silva		March 28, 1998	June 30, 1998
31		Atty. Danilo B. Lacuna Sr.		June 30, 1998	June 30, 2007
32	File:IskoMorenojf1488.JPG	Isko Moreno Domagoso		June 30, 2007	June 30, 2016
33	File:Honey Lacuna profile (cropped).jpg	Dra. Maria Sheilah Lacuna–Pangan		June 30, 2016	June 30, 2022
34	File:Rep. Yul Servo (18th Congress PH).jpg	Yul Servo Nieto		June 30, 2022	June 30, 2025
35	File:Chi Atienza (Cropped).jpg	Chi Atienza		June 30, 2025	incumbent

Elections

File:Manila City Hall top view (Padre Burgos, Manila; 02-10-2022).jpg

The mayor of Manila holds office at the Manila City Hall.

• 1951 Manila mayoral election
• 1955 Manila mayoral election
• 1959 Manila mayoral election
• 1963 Manila mayoral election
• 1967 Manila mayoral election
• 1971 Manila mayoral election
• 1980 Manila mayoral election
• 1988 Manila local elections
• 1992 Manila local elections
• 1995 Manila local elections
• 1998 Manila local elections
• 2001 Manila local elections
• 2004 Manila local elections
• 2007 Manila local elections
• 2010 Manila local elections
• 2013 Manila local elections
• 2016 Manila local elections
• 2019 Manila local elections
• 2022 Manila local elections
• 2025 Manila local elections

See also

• Gobernadorcillo
• Cabeza de Barangay
• Legislative districts of Manila. representation in the House of Representatives
• Manila City Council