MANILA - President Arroyo garnered the lowest trust rating among the country's top government officials with 46 percent of Filipinos saying they disapprove of her performance, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey.

The survey, conducted May 4 to 17, showed that only 26 percent of Pinoys approve of the President's performance while another 27 percent were undecided. Pulse Asia said relatively low public approval for Mrs. Arroyo has "remained the same across most of the past four years."

On the other hand, Vice-President Noli de Castro garnered the highest approval ratings of the nation's top leaders. Fifty-three percent of Pinoys approved his performance, 21 percent disapproved and 26 percent were undecided, according to the survey.

Pulse Asia said many Filipinos are still undecided about the performances of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (40%), House Speaker Nograles (42%) and Supreme Court Chief Justice Puno (38%).

The survey showed that de Castro enjoyed the highest approval ratings (41% to 63%) while Arroyo posts the highest disapproval ratings (43% to 60%) in all geographic areas and socio-economic classes. Between February and March 2009, public disapproval for presidential performance increased in the Visayas (+10 percentage points) and Class ABC (+16 percentage points) while presidential indecision ratings declined in the best-off Class ABC (-10 percentage points).

In the case of de Castro’s ratings, the most marked movement during this period is the 8-percentage point increase in his disapproval ratings in the Visayas (+8 percentage points)

Enrile's approval figures dropped to -17 while disapproval ratings increased to +11 in the Visayas.  There is also a decrease (-13 percentage points) in the Senate President’s disapproval ratings in Metro Manila.

As for House Speaker Nograles, he posts a lower approval rating and a higher indecision rating in May 2009 than in February 2009 (15% versus 31% and 41% versus 31%, respectively).  A 12-percentage point increase in the House Speaker’s indecision ratings may also be noted in the poorest Class E.

In the case of Supreme Court Chief Justice Puno, he enjoyed improvements in his approval ratings in Mindanao and Class E (+12 percentage points) while public ambivalence toward his work became more pronounced in Metro Manila (+12 percentage points) but less manifest in the Visayas (-10 percentage points). Additionally, there is an increase (-12 percentage points) in the disapproval ratings of Supreme Court Chief Justice Puno in the Visayas.