The Governor of Metro Manila was a political position whose holder served as the executive head of the

National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

(NCR) of the Philippines, also known as

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

. The position during its existence was also known as the Governor of the Metro Manila Commission. The Metro Manila Commission was the central government of

from 1975 until 1990 when it was replaced by the Metro Manila Authority. The MMA itself would later be known as the

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA; fil, Pangasiwaan sa Pagpapaunlad ng Kalakhang Maynila) is a government agency of the Philippines responsible for constituting the regional government of Metro Manila, comprising the capital ...

(MMDA). Currently, Metro Manila has no central executive head with the MMDA, headed by a chairperson, serves as the advisory body for the local government units of the national capital region.

History

Then President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

established the Metro Manila Commission (MMC) to act as the central government of the local government units (LGUs) of the

(NCR) or Metro Manila. The head of the commission was a governor, an appointive position rather than an elected one. Marcos appointed his wife

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitacion Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who served as the First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power during the dictator ...

as the MMC Governor. Following the

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

of 1986, President Marcos was removed from his position with

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

installed as new president. Marcos' whole family went into exile. The succeeding holders of the position of MMC Governor served in care-taker capacity as Officers-in-Charge (OIC; or Acting MMC Governors) while Aquino evaluated on the possible fate of the MMC. Aquino appointed

Joey Lina Jose David Lina Jr., KGCR (born December 22, 1951), better known as Joey Lina, is a Filipino lawyer, businessman, public servant, radio personality, and politician who is the former governor of Laguna and former Senator of the Philippines. Pol ...

as acting Governor within the year. In 1987, Lina resigned to run for senator and acting Makati Mayor

Jejomar Binay Jejomar "Jojo" Cabauatan Binay Sr. (born Jesus Jose Cabauatan Binay; November 11, 1942) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 13th vice president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016, under President Benigno Aquino III. A hu ...

was appointed in Lina's place. Binay himself later resigned from his post as Governor to run for Mayor of Makati. Presidential Management Staff Elfren Cruz was appointed following Binay's resignation. Cruz served the post until the abolition of the MMC, consequentially the governor post itself, in 1990. The MMC was replaced by the Metro Manila Authority which would be led by one of the Mayors of Metro Manila as MMA Chairperson.

Proposed revival

There are proposals to revive the position of Governor of Metro Manila due to concerns about the limited power of the

as a body, and its head the MMDA Chairman. House Bill 2596 (previously 4758) titled An Act Creating The Metropolitan Manila Government was among the measures seeking to do so. The measure, authored by representative

Lito Atienza Jose "Lito" Livioko Atienza Jr. (; born August 10, 1941) is a Filipino politician. He served as a Party-list Representative for Buhay from 2013 to 2022, and was a House Deputy Speaker from 2020 to 2022. He served as the Secretary of Environment ...

Buhay Party-List Buhay Hayaan Yumabong (), more popularly known as Buhay Party-List, is a party-list group in the Philippines founded on October 20, 1999 by Lito Atienza, Melquiades Robles, and El Shaddai founder Mike Velarde. A " pro-life" (anti-abortion) party- ...

, seeks the establishment of a regional government for

to be led by a governor elected by voters in the metropolis. The government will absorb all the powers of the MMDA, which according to Atienza is just a coordinating agency whose chairperson could be defied by Metro Manila's mayors. As per the measure the governor will be assisted by a vice governor and a regional council, where each congressional district has one representative. Then MMDA Chairman Tim Orbos also supported proposals to revive the position since the MMDA chairman has no powers to enact ordinance that would cover all LGUs of Metro Manila.

List of Governors

References

{{Metro Manila

Metro Manila Defunct government positions in the Philippines

History

Proposed revival

List of Governors

See also

References