First Ladies of the Philippines

First Lady or First Gentleman of the Philippines Unang Ginang o Ginoó ng Pilipinas
Incumbent Vacant
Residence	Malacañang Palace
Inaugural holder	Hilaria del Rosario-Aguinaldo
Formation	23 January 1899

The First Lady or First Gentleman of the Philippines (Filipino: Unang Ginang/Ginoó ng Pilipinas) is the unofficial, customary title of the host or hostess of Malacañang Palace, the residence of the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The title is traditionally held by the consort of the President of the Philippines, and as such is sometimes exclusively used for a spouse of the incumbent.

The consort of the Philippine President is, as in other countries, conventionally styled in English as the "First Lady" (Filipino: Unang Ginang). As Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took office as the second female President, the masculine form "First Gentleman" (abbreviated FG; Filipino: Unang Ginoó) was used for her husband, Miguel Arroyo.

This is perhaps one reason for the use of gender-neutral title of First Spouse, although of note also is that many indigenous nouns lack grammatical gender in many Philippine languages, compared to thousands of gendered loanwords from Spanish or English. The terms "husband" and "wife" are thus covered by genderless words for "spouse" (e.g. the Tagalog asawa, kabiyák); with the exception in the Visayan Languages, bana, "husband".

The position of First Spouse is not an elected position, carries no official duties, and has no personal remuneration. Nonetheless, the title holder participates in humanitarian and charitable work on behalf of the President. Furthermore, many First Spouses have taken an active role in campaigning for the President or have participated in public life through some other manner.

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Wikipedia