Philippine Councilors League

The Philippine Councilors League (PCL; Filipino: Liga ng mga Konsehal ng Pilipinas) is an official organization in the Philippines composed of all elected, appointed, and ex officio members of legislative councils in the cities and municipalities of the country.

Philippine Councilors League

Liga ng mga Konsehal ng Pilipinas
Established	September 1990; 34 years ago (1990-09)
Headquarters	10th Floor, DILG-NAPOLCOM Center, EDSA corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City
Membership	17,163 as of March 2020
National President	Handy Lao
National Chairperson	Raul Corro
Website	www.philippinecouncilorsleague.org

The presidents of the PCL's provincial chapters are ex officio members of their province's legislature (Sangguniang Panlalawigan).

Overview

Each city in the Philippines has a legislature known as a Sangguniang Panlungsod (city council) composed of 10 to 36 regular members and at least 2 ex officio members.^[a][1] Each municipality in the Philippines also has its respective legislature known as a Sangguniang Bayan (municipal council) composed of 8 regular members^[b] and at least 2 ex officio members.^[a][2] All elected, appointed, and ex officio members of those legislative councils automatically become members of the PCL.^[3]

The PCL members of a province—i.e. the councilors of a province's component cities and municipalities—elect a president of their provincial chapter who will then serve as an ex officio member of their Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial legislature).^[4]

Councilors serve three-year terms, renewable twice consecutively.^[5] The most recent election was held in 2025, and the next is scheduled for 2028.

History

The idea to form a nationwide organization of councilors emerged in 1989. In July that year, the Metro Manila Councilors League (MMPCL) was formed. They then encouraged councilors outside Metro Manila to form regional and provincial federations. In September 1990, the existing organizations of councilors held the first Philippine Councilors League (PCL) congress in Manila. Guillermo C. Altuna of Quezon City was elected as the first national chairman, while Ponciano D. Subido of Manila was elected the first national president. That same month, the PCL was accredited by the Department of Local Government and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 1991, the Local Government Code established that each provincial legislature would allocate one seat for the president of the province's PCL chapter.^[6]

On February 27, 2020, the outgoing national board declared a failure of elections after the automated election system contracted by the organization to conduct the election of its national officers failed.^[7] Competing for the top position were councilors Danilo Dayanghirang from Davao City, who was handpicked by President Rodrigo Duterte,^[8][9] and Jesciel Richard Salceda from Polangui, Albay.^[10]

Leadership

National Chairpersons

Image	National Chairperson (Lifespan)	Constituency Region	Party		Term of office		Ref.
	Guillermo C. Altuna (died 1996)	Quezon City NCR			Sep. 1990		[11][12]
Missing data for the terms 1993-1996, 1996-1999, and 1999-2002.
	Elmer O. Datuin	Baguio City CAR			2002	June 30, 2007 Term-limited	[13][14]
	Michael B. Fernandez (Interim) (born 1973)	Dagupan City Region I		Lakas	June 30, 2007	March 30, 2008	[15][16]
	Alan D. Zulueta	Tagum City, Davao del Norte Region XI		Liberal	March 30, 2008	March 2014	[17][18]
	Alma Moreno (born 1959)	Parañaque City NCR		Liberal	March 2014	June 30, 2016 Term-limited	[19]
	Elmer O. Datuin (Interim)	Baguio City CAR		UNA	June 30, 2016	March 2017	[20][21]
	Danilo C. Dayanghirang	Davao City Region XI		PDP Local: Hugpong	March 2017	June 30, 2022 Lost seat	[22][23]
	Vandolph Quizon (Interim) (born 1984)	Parañaque City NCR		PDP	June 30, 2022	March 9, 2023	[24]
	Raul C. Corro	Muntinlupa City NCR		1Munti	March 9, 2023	Present	[25]

National Presidents

Image	National President (Lifespan)	Constituency (Region)	Party		Term of office		Ref.
	Ponciano D. Subido (1937/1938-2012)	City of Manila NCR			Sep. 1990		[11]
Missing data for the terms 1992-1995 and 1995-1998.
	Michael L. Rama (born 1954)	Cebu City, Cebu 2nd (South) District Region VII		PROMDI Local: BOPK	1998	June 30, 2001 Elected Vice Mayor	[26]
	Salvador D. Pangilinan	Makati City NCR			As of Feb. 2002		[27]
Missing data for the terms 2002-2005 and 2005-2008.
	Carlo P. Fortuna	Mandaue City, Cebu Region VII		Lakas		June 30, 2007 Elected vice mayor	[13][28]
	Arecio R. Rendor, Jr. (Interim)	Oas, Albay Region V			June 30, 2007	March 30, 2008	[15][29][30]
	Ronald P. Carcillar	Poro, Cebu Region VII			March 30, 2008	March 2011	[31][32]
	Alma Moreno (born 1959)	Parañaque City NCR		Lakas	March 2011	March 2014	[19]
	Maybelyn Rose D. Fernandez (born 1982)	Dagupan City Region I		Liberal	March 2014	March 2017	[20][33]
	Luis "Chavit" C. Singson (born 1941)	Narvacan, Ilocos Sur Region I		Nacionalista	March 2017	June 30, 2019 Elected Mayor	[22]
	Handy T. Lao (born 1980)	Laoag City, Ilocos Norte Region I		Nacionalista Local: Team Marcos	June 23, 2022 (Interim)	March 9, 2023	[25][34][35]
					March 9, 2023	June 30, 2025 Lost seat

Notes

1. One from the Liga ng mga Barangay and one from the Sangguniang Kabataan. Some councils also have a reserved seat for the indigenous peoples community.
2. Except for Pateros which has 12 regular council members.