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Under the Constitution of the Philippines, the President of the Philippines (Pangulo ng Pilipinas) is both the head of state and the head of government of the Philippines. As leader of the whole executive branch of the government, the presidency is the highest political office in the country. The President also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The president is directly elected by qualified voters of the population to a six-year term. Since the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, re-election to the presidency is prohibited if the person "has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years." If an incumbent president died, became permanently disabled, resigned, or was removed from office, the vice president assumes the post. The president must be "a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding such election."

There have been 15 persons who were sworn into office as president. Following the ratification of the Malolos Constitution in 1899, Emilio Aguinaldo became the inaugural president of the Malolos Republic, considered the First Philippine Republic. He held that office until 1901 when he was captured by the United States during the Philippine–American War. Their colonization of the Philippines abolished the Republic.

In 1935, the U.S. established the Commonwealth of the Philippines as part of its promise of full Philippine sovereignty. The presidency was restored with the ratification of a new Constitution. The first Philippine presidential election was held and Manuel L. Quezon was elected to a six-year term as the first Commonwealth President and the second Philippine President. In 1940, the 1935 Constitution was amended to allow re-election but shortened the term to four years. Two years later, during World War II, Imperial Japan occupied the Philippines and formed their own government, the Second Philippine Republic, with José P. Laurel presiding as a puppet ruler. At this point, Laurel's presidency overlapped with the President of the Commonwealth, which went into exile. The Second Republic was effectively axed after Japan surrendered to the U.S. and its Allies; the Commonwealth was re-established in the Philippines with Sergio Osmeña as the second Commonwealth President and the fourth Philippine President.

Manuel Roxas was elected in 1946, succeeding Osmeña. He became the first President of the independent Philippines when the Commonwealth ended on July 4, 1946. The Third Republic was inaugurated and would see the administrations of the next five Presidents, the last of which was Ferdinand E. Marcos who declared martial law in 1972, allowing him to rule by decree. The dictatorship covered the "New Society" and much of the Fourth Republic. It lasted until 20 years later in 1986 when the People Power Revolution, which sparked in the wake of the fraudulent 1986 election, deposed him. In 1987, the current Constitution came into effect, which marked the beginning of the Fifth Republic.

Of the individuals elected as president, three died in office: two of natural causes (Manuel L. Quezon and Manuel Roxas) and one on an aircraft disaster (Ramon Magsaysay); and one resigned (Joseph Ejercito Estrada). The longest serving President was Marcos, while the shortest was Osmeña who was also the first Vice President to assume the presidency (after the death of Quezon). The first female president is Corazon C. Aquino whose son, Benigno S. Aquino III, is currently the incumbent President.