MANILA, Philippines -- Surveys may say that she is unpopular, but more people than usual have signed up to watch President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's last State of the Nation Address on Monday.

Attendance at Arroyo's ninth SONA is expected to jump 40 percent compared to last year, and this may be because the July 27 event will be her valedictory address, according to House Secretary General Marilyn Barua-Yap.

?Since this is the last SONA, there are more people from the executive requesting to attend.... There are also more from the local government, the league of mayors, the league of governors, even religious groups. We were flooded with requests, which is why we have an overflow provision [for the session hall],? Yap said in a phone interview.

In her experience, SONA attendance usually rises when the address is the last one to be delivered by the chief executive, she said.

By her reckoning, the number of requests for invitations to the SONA rose ?roughly 40 percent.? The session hall of the Batasang Pambansa, which is where Arroyo will deliver her speech, has a capacity of only 1,500. But if you add those who requested for invitations to the usual attendees and their guests, the number of people trooping to the plenary hall would be around 2,000, she added.

?The requests really increased. This is like the final salute, or maybe they want to see people, or that's their documentation of the event, or maybe it's because of a sense of history,? she said.

Another reason for the increased attendance is the Supreme Court's recent addition of 29 more party list lawmakers, each of whom is allowed to bring three guests to the SONA.

Seating could be a tight squeeze for some of the guests, especially for those who will be coming in voluminous gowns.

But a few seats in the plenary hall are expected to be free. Several Senators and representatives already announced their plan to boycott the President's address. Their reasons for the snub include their concern over possibly being roped into a constituent assembly, and their refusal to listen to what they believe would be lies, half-truths and exaggerations.

The SONA would gather mostly lawmakers, and top officials from the executive and legislative branches. Their relatives, as well as dignitaries and religious leaders, are also expected to fill up the rest of the seats.

The Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City is also more fortified than ever. Yap said recent events, including the bombings and lightning rallies inside the compound, have prompted the House administration to increase their security preparations.

?Before I got in, there were no bombings and people did not hold rallies inside the complex or stormed the gates. So the requirements before were a little bit more laid back.... Now we try to project for other contingencies,? she said.

The free space outside the Batasan's gates, which has been a venue for numerous rallies and hunger strikes, has been encircled by steel fences to prevent anyone from using the area.

Parking inside the compound will also be limited because of the increased number of guests. Even most House employees, except for those of a certain rank, would be prohibited from bringing their cars inside.

Bomb sniffing dogs have been patrolling the grounds frequently in the past few days. On the day of the SONA, people in the complex will be allowed to go only to areas where their color-coded ID cards are honored.

Yap said the thermal scanning done on all who enter the Batasan would be imposed on SONA day. She said the House is trying to borrow the unobtrusive kind of scanner, which would require people to pass by it to check their temperatures, so that the VIPs walking into the complex would not need to be stopped.

But if the House could not get this kind of scanner, it would continue to use the handheld ones to check for people who are running a fever.

The temperature check is being implemented in the House after the death of an employee who had the H1N1 virus.