In this paper, the effect of different phases of severe geomagnetic storms on low latitude ionospheric critical frequencies (foF2) is investigated. For this purpose, hourly ionospheric critical frequency (foF2) data measured at the low latitude ionosonde station Manila during 1981 and 1991 is examined. The investigation is carried out using superposed epoch analysis method considering the disturbance storm time index Dst ≤ −100 nT hours as event times. To examine depending on local time the effect of the phases of geomagnetic storms on foF2, this analysis was conducted for separately for the day hours, night hours, and all hours during both the main and the recovery phases of the severe geomagnetic storms and the results were compared with each other. It is observed that for both 1981 and 1991, the highest change (increase or decrease) in foF2 values occurs at the event times for all hours of day during both the main and the recovery phase of severe geomagnetic storms. Also, during the main phases of severe geomagnetic storms, the foF2 values increase at day hours, while the foF2 values decrease at night hours. However, during the recovery phases of severe geomagnetic storms, the foF2 values decrease at day hours, while the foF2 values increase at night hours. For both the day and night hours, the changes in the foF2 values during the recovery phase of severe geomagnetic storms are greater than the changes in the foF2 values during the main phase of severe geomagnetic storms.