MANILA, Philippines—If killing the impeachment complaint is allegedly worth P500,000 for each congressman, cheering on the dismissal of the latest ouster move was worth P500 for each of the “hakot” (hauled-in) crowd herded into Batasang Pambansa Tuesday.

This was gathered from various interviews with some of the over 5,000 warm bodies who filled the House of Representatives session hall for the widely anticipated dismissal Wednesday of the impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

A former supporter of the FPJ for President Movement said that the P500 was just too much to pass on considering that it was better than the minimum wage (P380 a day in Metro Manila). This was confirmed by several security personnel who were casually interviewing the visitors during their entry.

The organizers got their money’s worth as the vast session hall was filled with anti-impeachment supporters that clearly outnumbered the other side.

Documents obtained by a party-list group showed that the anti-impeachment crowd was gathered by several organizations.

A total of 1,250 individuals belonged to NGOs Abang Coalition (450), API collation (200) Youth Sector (300), PPP (200) and Sulong Barangay (100).

The rest of the “hakot” crowd were from barangay (village) organizations with the biggest contingent from Marikina City (roughly 3,000 according to a barangay leader). Some 500 came from the vicinity of the Batasang Pambansa complex; 200 from Caloocan City; 200 from Parañaque City; 200 from Mandaluyong City; and 100 from Rizal province. The organizers took care of their food and transportation.

The anti-impeachment crowd carried banners supporting President Arroyo. A few were allowed to line up along the red carpet entrance to the session hall where they handed out to congressmen red roses with anti-impeachment slogans attached to their stems.