Poll shows about half Filipinos distrust Arroyo

MANILA, Nov 21 (Reuters) Nearly 50 per cent of Filipinos distrust President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo six months ahead of congressional elections, an independent survey showed today.

Private pollster Pulse Asia said Arroyo's distrust rating increased by 4 percentage points to 48 per cent after her campaign to shift the country's political system to a parliamentary setup was defeated last month in the Supreme Court.

Critics said Ma Arroyo, who has failed to shake suspicion she cheated in the 2004 presidential election, was promoting the political switch to stay in power after 2010, when she finishes her last term as president.

Ma Arroyo's allies in the lower house have twice defeated impeachment bids against the former economist amid the vote-rigging allegations and her political future could be in jeopardy if they lose their majority in next May's elections.

Political analysts said Ma Arroyo's continued failure to gain support from the country's poor would impact on the chances of her candidates to win seats in the two chamber Congress and in 17,000 local positions.

The survey of 1,200 people, conducted between October 21 and November 8, has a margin of error of three percentage points, Pulse Asia said.

REUTERS SB VV1320