Aside from having its concurrence on every bill in order to be passed for the president's signature to become a law, the Senate is the only body that can concur with treaties and try impeachment cases.

Future president Manuel L. Quezon, who was then Philippine Resident Commissioner, encouraged future president Sergio Osmeña, then Speaker of the House, to run for the leadership of the Senate, but Osmeña preferred to continue leading the lower house.

This setup continued until 1935, when the Philippine Independence Act or the "Tydings–McDuffie Act" was passed by the U.S. Congress which granted the Filipinos the right to frame their own constitution in preparation for their independence, wherein they established a unicameral National Assembly of the Philippines, effectively abolishing the Senate.

By 1938, the National Assembly began consideration of these proposals, which included restoring the Senate as the upper chamber of Congress.

The amendment of the 1935 Constitution to have a bicameral legislature was approved in 1940 and the first biennial elections for the restored upper house was held in November 1941.

The rationale for this rule intends to make the Senate a training ground for national leaders and possibly a springboard for the presidency.

[1] It follows also that the senator will have a broader outlook of the problems of the country, instead of being restricted by narrow viewpoints and interests by having a national rather than only a district constituency.

Specifically, the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides a definite statement to it: (1) The Senate shall elect its President and the House of Representatives its Speaker by a vote of all its respective members.

While franchise and money bills originate in the House of Representatives, the Senate may still propose or concur with amendments.

The Senate currently meets at the GSIS Building along Jose W. Diokno Boulevard in Pasay.

Built on land reclaimed from Manila Bay, the Senate shares the complex with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

When the Legislative Building was ruined in World War II, the House of Representatives temporarily met at the Old Japanese Schoolhouse at Lepanto Street (modern-day S. H. Loyola Street),[4] while the Senate's temporary headquarters was at the half-ruined Manila City Hall.

When President Ferdinand Marcos dissolved Congress in 1972, he built a new legislative complex in Quezon City.

[6] As the Senate has rented GSIS for the office space, it asked the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to present suitable sites for it to move to, with the Senate eyeing the Navy Village property along Lawton Avenue as its favored site.

[7] In 2018, a building designed by AECOM was chosen as winner for the new home for the Senate and was expected to be built by 2022.