Disapproval for and distrust in President Arroyo remain high among majority of Filipinos, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey results released Thursday.

In a nationwide survey conducted from July 28 to Aug. 10 among 1,800 respondents, more than four in 10 Filipinos expressed disapproval of President Arroyo’s performance (43 percent) and distrust in her (42 percent) in the last three months.

Meanwhile, the President’s combined approval and trust ratings also dipped to 21 percent this August compared to 23 percent in May.

Those undecided about Mrs. Arroyo’s performance was at 34 percent, while those who could not decide whether she was trustworthy or not stood at 37 percent in the August survey.

Between May and August 2009, public ambivalence with regard to the President’s work became more pronounced (+7 percentage points).

Likewise, a similar trend was noted with respect to the level of indecision on trusting or distrusting President Arroyo (+10 percentage points).

Although approval, disapproval, and trust ratings are generally unchanged during this period, the President’s distrust rating declined by six percentage points.

Pulse Asia noted that as in the past, President Arroyo failed to gain the approval and trust of most Filipinos, which was reflected in all geographic areas and socio-economic groupings.

In the Visayas, a year-long trend in declining presidential approval and trust ratings was arrested, recording improvements in both dimensions in the current survey (33 percent and 31 percent, respectively).

Meanwhile, Metro Manilans continued to express majority disapproval (59 percent) and distrust (61 percent) for President Arroyo despite the marginal decline in distrust in this critical constituency (-6 percentage points).

Indecision ratings, both in terms of President Arroyo’s performance and trustworthiness, are generally consistent with the overall figures across a one-year period.

The survey showed that President Arroyo enjoyed gains in approval and trust (+9 to +14 percentage points) in the Visayas between May and August 2009.

However, approval and trust ratings dropped in the rest of Luzon, Mindanao, and the poorest Class E (-7 to -11 percentage points).

With regard to disapproval and distrust ratings, double-digit declines occurred in the Visayas and the best-off Class ABC (-12 to -20 percentage points).

Public indecision toward presidential performance was more pronounced in the latest survey than in May 2009 in the rest of Luzon and Classes ABC and E (+9 to +11 percentage
points).

Levels of public ambivalence on the matter of trusting or distrusting President Arroyo went up in the rest of Luzon, Mindanao, and all socio-economic groupings (+9 to +18 percentage points).

President Arroyo’s congressional allies, meanwhile, expressed “displeasure but no surprise” at the latest Pulse Asia survey showing very low satisfaction with her performance.

“President Arroyo has been getting low grades but did these discourage her from working harder for the country and the Filipino people? I don’t think so,” Lakas-Kampi-CMD Rep. Danilo Suarez said.

Suarez is the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight that earlier gave the President a rating of “substantial compliance” with her promises since 2004 when she unveiled her ambitious 10-point plan aiming to cut the poverty rate by more than half before her term ends next year.

According to Pulse Asia, a near-majority or 46 percent of Filipinos expressed disapproval for presidential performance and 45 percent expressed distrust in Mrs. Arroyo.

Suarez said he pities Mrs. Arroyo because despite being “the most hardworking”, she has become the “most maligned and discredited Philippine President.”

“The President should be getting support rather than criticisms but what can we do? In Philippine politics, it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” he said.