There's only two years left in the Marcos administration, but the supermajority bloc in the House of Representatives appears as solidly behind the President as ever.

This was evident with how the major political parties in the lower chamber rallied their members into voting in plenary Tuesday, Feb. 10 to affirm the dismissal of the two impeachment complaints against President Marcos.

In the end, the congressmen voted 284-8-4 (yes-no-abstain) to dismiss the twin complaints, as solicited by the Committee on Justice in its Committee Report No.111.

The overwhelming "yes" votes came from stalwarts of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), National Unity Party (NUP), Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), Nacionalista Party (NP), Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), and Party-list Coalition Foundation, Incorporated (PCFI).

In a manifestation before the nominal vote, Butuan City lone district Rep. Jose “Joboy” Aquino II, secretary general of dominant party Lakas–CMD, said the justice panel found that two complaints were “manifestly insufficient in substance".

“The allegations presented—ranging from the arrest of the former President to claims of drug addiction and budgetary misconduct—were found to be anchored on hearsay, unauthenticated documents, and speculative narratives rather than the recital of facts required by our rules,” Aquino said.

“Our duty is to protect the sanctity of the impeachment process from being utilized as a tool for political disruption. By dismissing these unsubstantiated charges, we choose the rule of law over political noise,” he said.

Negros Occidental 3rd district Rep. Javier Miguel "Javi" Benitez of PFP said the dismissal reaffirmed “the stability and continuity of a government that is at work".

“Stability is not the enemy of progress. Stability is its pre-condition,” said Benitez, who urged Congress to refocus on legislation that delivers on the administration's commitments to the Filipino people.

Quezon 1st district Rep. Mark Enverga of the NPC echoed this position. He says his party “fully supports the findings by the House Committee on Justice dismissing the two impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for insufficiency in substance".

“The committee acted squarely within the bounds of the Constitution and the rules of the House,” said Enverga, who added that impeachment “must be anchored on evidence and legal discipline, not political narratives or policy disagreements".

Also during plenary session, Manila 3rd district Rep. Rolando Valeriano said, “I rise today on behalf of the [NUP] to express our support for the recommendation of the House the Committee on Justice to dismiss the impeachment complaint against President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos.”

“Sa madaling salita Madam Speaker, hindi sapat ang nilalaman ng reklamo upang magpatuloy pa ito sa mas mabigat na proseso ng impeachment. Ang impeachment ay isang seryosong mekanismo na may mabigat na epekto sa ating institusyon at buong bansa. Kaya malinaw sa saligang batas na ito ay dapat gamitin lamang kung may malinaw, sapat at matibay na batayan," he said.

(In plain terms, Madam Speaker, the complaint does not contain enough substance to proceed to the heavier process of impeachment. Impeachment is a serious mechanism with profound consequences for our institutions and the entire nation. That is why the Constitution clearly provides that it must only be invoked when there is a clear, sufficient, and solid basis.)

He reckoned that the justice committee "exercised sound judgment" and "did not act in haste". It applied the law as written and it arrived "at a conclusion grounded on the facts presented,” Valeriano said.

"That is how we protect the credibility of impeachment as a constitutional remedy," he noted.

On behalf of PCFI, FPJ Panday Bayanihan Party-list Rep. Brian Poe said the coalition supports the dismissal, even as he personally framed the issue as a choice between prolonged political conflict and national recovery.

“The PCFI believes that this is a time for healing and unity, not for the deepening of the political divide. Our country is currently at a critical economic juncture. The demand of the times is to shift our full attention to the pressing needs of the Filipino people," he said.

Poe says backing the committee report does not mean abandoning accountability, but reflects confidence in independent institutions tasked to enforce it.

“We are not ignoring accountability. Instead, our support for this Committee Report is rooted in our faith in the Philippine justice system,” he said.

Poe also pointed to economic indicators as reasons to preserve political stability. He noted growth projections of 5.2 to 5.6 percent this year and a 5.7-percent outlook for 2026, as well as the country’s recent $2.75-billion global bond issuance that was oversubscribed by nearly $6 billion.

“Our creditors aren’t looking for political noise. They are looking for credit strength,” said Poe, who pointed to treasury data and survey results showing percentage drops in self-rated poverty and food poverty in the fourth quarter of 2025.

“And that is why PCFI remains committed to being a partner for economic growth and progress. We must show the world that we are stable. Balik na po tayo sa trabaho natin (Let's go back to work),” Poe told his House colleagues.

Surprised 

After the plenary session, justice panel chairperson Batangas 2nd district Rep. Jerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro shared the nominal vote result "surprised" her.

"Dito sa nangyari po kanina, hindi lang po one-third, 284 ['yes' votes]. Even ako’y nagulat with the 284 votes. That is overwhelming and it only shows, humbly speaking, na tama ang naging judgment ng mga justice members,” Luistro said.

(In what happened earlier, it was not just one-third, it was 284. Even I was surprised by the 284 votes. That is overwhelming, and it only shows, humbly speaking, that the judgment of the justice members was correct.)

For his part, Deputy Speaker Misamis Oriental 2nd district Rep. Yevgeny Vicente “Bambi” Emano of NP underscored that the vote was a constitutional exercise. “This is not a political vote," he said.

Marcos will step down from Malacañang on June 30, 2028.

Bagong Henerasyon (BH) Party-list Rep. Robert Nazal, an assistant minority leader, saw the impeachment process for what is was--a numbers game. And the pro-Marcos supermajority simply had its way.

Nazal claimed the House was “going through the motions of an impeachment".

“But let’s be honest with the people watching at home: This is an exercise in futility. I am casting a vote of abstain,” he said.

He said impeachment had effectively been decided by numbers alone. “We are lawmakers, at marunong naman po tayo magbilang (and we know how to count). Impeachment, at the end of the day, boils down to political arithmetic – and the math in this House is already settled."

Nazal stressed that the existence of a supermajority left no real chance for the process to move forward.

“Huwag na po tayong maglokohan. Tapos na ang boxing bago pa man tayo sumuntok (Let's not fool ourselves anymore. The boxing match was over even before the first match was thrown),” he said.

Nazal criticized the time devoted to the proceedings, warning that lawmakers were engaging in an exercise whose ending was already known.

“We are spending weeks building a political sandcastle, fully aware that the tide of the Supermajority is going to wash it away by nightfall. It is a massive waste of time for everyone in this room, and more importantly, for every Filipino waiting for action and leadership that they can feel,” he noted.