Migz Zubiri

Juan Miguel Zubiri is a senator in the 19th Congress, serving his third term since 2007.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in agribusiness management from University of the Philippines, a master’s degree in environment and natural resources management, also from UP, and was conferred honorary doctorate degrees by Philippine Christian University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Southwestern University, Bukidnon State University, and Visayas State University.

Before his stint in the Senate, Zubiri first represented the 3rd District of Bukidnon in the House of Representatives from 1998 to 2007. The Zubiris are an influential political family in the province.

After three terms in the lower house, he joined the Senate in 2007, narrowly defeating Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III for 12th place in the senatorial race. Pimentel contested Zubiri’s win before the Supreme Court and the Senate Electoral Tribunal. Amid the electoral protest and allegations of electoral fraud, Zubiri did not finish his first six-year term and resigned from the Senate in August 2011.

He ran again for the Senate in 2013 but lost at 14th place. It won’t be until three years later, in 2016, when Zubiri would finally win a Senate seat again, this time ranking sixth in the race. He was reelected in 2022.

Zubiri held leadership roles in the Senate, from serving as majority leader during his first and second terms to becoming the 24th Senate president during his third term. He held this post for less than two years; he resigned in May 2024 after supposedly “not following instructions” from “the powers that be.” There had been rumors of his supposed ouster for months prior to his resignation.

Zubiri has authored several landmark legislation, including the Biofuels Act, Renewable Energy Act, and the Bangsamoro Organic Law, among others. At the House, he authored laws on agriculture and the environment.