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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Constitution Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
Third Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 10599 
Introduced by REP. JOEL R. CHUA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Thirty-seven (37) years after the 1987 Constitution came into force, Congress has not 
yet enacted a law on presidential succession in an Acting President situation. 
The Constitution tasked Congress to provide, by law, who shall serve as Acting 
President and Acting Vice President when there is no President, President-elect, Vice President, 
or Vice President-elect in the very specific situations described in Article VII, Sections 7 and 
8 of the Constitution. 
This bill, therefore, does not amend the Constitution. This bill implements the 
constitutional mandate to enact an enabling law on Presidential Succession in case those who 
are in the line of succession designated in the Constitution are unable to serve in acting 
capacity. 
There are three situations addressed in this bill: 
1. Succession when the Vice President is elected, has qualified, and assumes the Vice
Presidency, but the President has not yet been chosen and qualified, so the Presidency
is vacant. In this situation, the Vice President becomes Acting President. Section 3 of
the bill addresses this situation.
2. Succession when the President of the Senate or Speaker of the House of Representatives
serves as Acting President by reason of succession. When either becomes Acting
President, the position of Vice President is vacant. This vacancy has to be filled. Section
4 addresses this particular situation. In Section 4, the vacancy is the Vice Presidency is
filled according to the Constitution, specifically Article VII, Section 9, where the Vice
President is nominated from among the Members of the Senate and Members of the
House of Representatives.
July 15, 2024
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However, if the Speaker of the House is unable to serve as Acting President, the 
positions of President and Vice President become vacant. Section 5 addresses this 
situation with the Governors choosing the Acting President and the City Mayors 
choosing the Acting Vice President.  
3. Succession when the President and Vice President are unable to, incapacitated, or die
before the Senate President and Speaker of the House are elected, leaving both the
Presidency and Vice Presidency vacant. In this situation, the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court becomes Caretaker of the Executive Branch with general supervisory
powers only to ensure continuity of government and public services until the Senate
President and Speaker of the House are elected by their peers.
The Chief Justice, as Caretaker of the Executive Department, shall only exercise
temporary general supervision authority over the Executive Department, the local 
governments, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to ensure the continuity of delivery of 
public services and operations of the national government. The Caretaker shall not exercise 
executive power reserved only to the President of the Philippines as specified in the 
Constitution and residual powers as provided in various laws of the land. 
This bill designates the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as a Caretaker under very 
specific circumstances. In this sense, the Chief Justice is the “designated survivor” when the 
constitutional succession line is exhausted. The Caretaker role is consistent with current 
practice on caretakers when the President is overseas. We chose the Chief Justice because that 
position commands respect. The Caretaker role is temporary because it is there to ensure 
continuity of government. 
ATTY. JOEL R. CHUA 
Representative, Third District of Manila 
AJRC2024715 
AJRC2024715 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Constitution Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
Third Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. 10599 
Introduced by REP. JOEL R. CHUA 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR THE MANNER OF SELECTION  
OF THE ACTING PRESIDENT AND ACTING VICE PRESIDENT WHEN 
VACANCY OCCURS IN THE POSITIONS 
OF PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT,  
PRESIDENT-ELECT, AND VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT,  
PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFORE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
Section 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the “Presidential Succession Act of 
2024”. 
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. It is the declared policy of the State that Congress 
shall provide, by law, for who shall serve as Acting President and Acting Vice President under 
the specific circumstances set for in Article VI, Sections 7 and 8 of the Constitution.  
Section 3. Succession to Acting President by the Vice President until the President-
elect shall have been chosen and qualified. Where after having been elected and sworn into 
office, the Vice President-elect becomes Vice President and acts as President until the 
President-elect has not been chosen and qualified. The Acting President shall serve until the 
President-elect has qualified and sworn into office as President. 
Section 4. Succession when the President of the Senate or Speaker of the House of 
Representatives serves as Acting President.  Where no President and Vice-President shall have 
been chosen or shall have qualified, or where both shall have died or become permanently 
disabled, the President of the Senate shall serve as Acting President in accordance with Article 
VII, Section 8 (1) of the 1987 Constitution. If the President of the Senate is unable to serve as 


 
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Acting President, then the Speaker of the House becomes Acting President also in accordance 
with Article VII, Section 8 (1) of the 1987 Constitution. 
 
The moment the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House takes his oath as 
Acting President, the vacancy in the Office of the Vice-President shall be filled, in accordance 
with Article VII, Section 9 of the 1987 Constitution, by the Acting President who shall 
nominate a Vice-President from among the Members of the Senate and the House of 
Representatives. The Vice President shall assume office upon confirmation by a majority vote 
of all the Members of both Houses of Congress, voting separately. 
 
 
Section 5. Succession when the Speaker of the House is unable to serve as Acting 
President. If the Speaker of the House is unable to serve as Acting President, the Chief Justice 
of the Supreme Court serves as Caretaker of the Executive Branch until the positions of 
President and Vice President are filled with an Acting President and Acting Vice President, 
respectively.  
The Commission on Elections, in an emergency en banc session convened within three 
(3) calendar days, shall convene the elected Governors and City Mayors. The Governors shall 
choose the Acting President from among the Members of the Senate. The City Mayors shall 
choose the Acting Vice President from among the Members of the House of Representatives. 
They have to choose the Acting President and the Acting Vice President within five (5) days 
from the day they convene. 
 
The Acting President and Acting Vice President chosen in accordance with this Section 
shall serve until the next President and Vice President are elected and qualified in special 
elections held in accordance with Article VII, Section 10 of the 1987 Constitution. 
 
The Chairperson of the Commission on Elections shall administer the oath of office to 
the Acting President chosen by the Governors and to the Acting Vice President chosen by the 
City Mayors immediately after they were chosen. 
 
 
Section 6. Caretaker of the Executive Department. The Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court shall also serve as Caretaker of the Executive Branch in the event that the President-elect 
and the Vice President-elect are unable to take their respective Oath of Office after having been 
elected and qualified and before Congress elect their Senate President and Speaker of the House 
of Representatives. The Chief Justice shall serve as Caretaker until such time that the Senate 
President and Speaker of the House have been elected by their respective peers.  
The Chief Justice shall also serve as Caretaker as provided in Section 5 and Section 8 
of this Act.  
The Chief Justice, as Caretaker of the Executive Department, shall only exercise 
temporary general supervision authority over the Executive Department, the local 
governments, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to ensure the continuity of delivery of 
public services and operations of the national government. The Caretaker shall not exercise 
executive power reserved only to the President of the Philippines as specified in the 
Constitution and residual powers as provided in various laws of the land. 
 
The outgoing President shall not serve in a holdover capacity because the Constitution 
does not allow such circumstances. 


 
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Section 7. Special Election. Where the provisions of the immediately preceding 
Section are implemented, the conduct of a Special Election for President and Vice President 
shall proceed as provided in Article VII, Section 10 of the Constitution. 
 
 
Section 8. Extraordinary Circumstance. Where, by reason of catastrophe or calamity 
that is either natural or man-made, the President, Vice President, all the Members of the Senate 
of the Philippines, all the Members of the House of Representatives, and the Chairman and 
Commissioners of the Commission on Elections are incapacitated or die, the Chief Justice of 
the Supreme Court shall serve as Caretaker of the Executive Department until the Governors 
have chosen new Acting President and the City Mayors have chosen an Acting Vice President. 
 
It is for this reason of Extraordinary Circumstance, therefore, that on the occasion of 
the State of the Nation Address, the Chief Justice and Members of the Supreme Court shall 
inhibit from attending the SONA and any other occasions when all the elected officials of the 
Executive and Legislative branches of government and the Comelec are all invited. 
 
The Supreme Court, in en banc session, shall convene all the proclaimed elected 
Governors and City Mayors for the selection of an Acting President and Acting Vice President 
as provided in Section 4 of this Act. 
 
 
 
Section 9. Appropriations. Funding the conduct of the special election for President 
and Vice President shall be automatically appropriated and sourced from Unprogrammed 
Funds. 
 
 
Funds for the offices of the Caretaker of the Executive Branch, Acting President and 
Acting Vice President shall also be sourced from the Unprogrammed Funds. 
 
 
 
Section 10. Separability. - If any provision or part of this Act is declared invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall continue to be in full force 
and effect. 
 
 
 
Section 11. Repealing Clause. - All laws, executive orders, and administrative orders 
or parts thereof inconsistent with any provision of this Act are hereby repealed or amended 
accordingly. 
 
 
 
Section 12.  Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the online version of the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general 
circulation or with an established internet website presence. 
 
 
Approved.