By Roli Ng

MANILA, May 8 (Reuters) Five lawmakers accused of plotting against Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo marched from Congress with raised fists today, ending a 71-day confinement that has seen them become anti-government heroes.

About 1,000 supporters mobbed the politicians as they stepped out of congress's lower house, where they had been sheltering from arrest since Arroyo accused them of trying to oust her in an alleged coup plot in February.

''We will not stop fighting for our freedom,'' Teodoro Casino told Reuters, vowing to work for the release of a sixth lawmaker Crispin Beltran, under police custody at a government hospital.

Separately today, armed men lobbed a grenade at an office of a left-wing labour union on the southern island of Mindanao, wounding two people. No more details were available.

Arroyo had accused 49 people, including renegade soldiers, communist rebels and the politicians, of plotting to oust her, triggering a week long state of emergency.

But in a technical ruling last week, a Manila court rejected rebellion charges against all but two of the accused, leaving the politicians, dubbed ''the housemates'' after reality TV show Big Brother, free to go.

During their first week at Congress, the five slept on the carpeted floor of a meeting room before bringing foldable cots in to their offices.

Their families brought in fresh clothes and cooked food for them every day but it was a tough slog despite celebrating the 67th birthday of Satur Ocampo, the oldest of the five, with a feast of roast pork and noodles.

''It's really difficult to sleep outside your own home. Our three children missed their father a lot.'' Lita Mariano, wife of Congressman Rafael Mariano, told Reuters.

She said she was hoping her husband's freedom would be permanent, a gift for their 25th wedding anniversary next week.

Arroyo's government had initially insisted that the five could still be arrested even after the court's decision but backed down amid fears of violence if police tried to act against them.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has said he will ask the court to appeal its decision, the latest in a series of legal blows against Arroyo.

Earlier this week, the country's top court said Arroyo's media crackdown and detainment of several people without charges during emergency rule was unconstitutional.

REUTERS OM HT1200