Castriciones still enjoys Duterte’s trust despite corruption at DAR —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte still trusts Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones even after the chief executive expressed his frustration over the delayed processing of land conversion documents at the agency, a Malacañang official said Friday.

In several speeches, Duterte adverted to firing at least two DAR executives over the delay which he said was even attended by corruption.

"I believe DAR Secretary Castriciones still enjoys the trust and confidence of the President. In fact the President said something to that effect," Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said at a news conference.

Duterte said on Thursday that he walked out of the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday when he learned about a 25-year application process at the National Economic Development Authority and two-processing of conversion cases at the DAR. 

The President has repeatedly threatened to fire and file charges against the officials allegedly involved in the delay.

"Though no fault of anybody, I discovered very late that there are some applications which have been pending in NEDA [National Economic and Development Authority] for 25 years," Duterte said in a speech in Malacañang on Thursday.

"So ‘yon namang sa [land] conversion, it took them about two years? And two years that includes verily corruption," he added.

Nograles said DAR reported to the Cabinet that there was an "urgent need" to streamline the current process for land conversion to address pending applications and to expedite the approval and/or disapproval of new applications.

A joint memorandum circular will be drafted by several agencies aimed at streamlining the process of approval/disapproval of land conversion applications, from 24 to 36 months, to 30 days, the Palace official said.

The agencies include the DAR, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Energy, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, National Housing Authority, Land Registration Authority, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board and the Social Housing Finance Corporation.

"This memorandum circular will be finalized and presented to the President for his approval within 30 days or on or before the next Cabinet meeting," Nograles said.

At least 140 conversion cases remain pending with the agrarian reform department as of 2018, according to Nograles.

"At present, classification and conversion of land from agriculture to other uses are handled by the DA and DAR, respectively, using criteria and regulations specific to these departments. Then there's the DENR which issues environmental clearances," Nograles said on January 30.

"The challenge is to get everyone on the same page so that we can identify the choke points in the process and handle these appropriately," he added. —NB, GMA News