By Genalyn Kabiling The government is preparing a joint memorandum circular that aims to shorten the application period of land use conversion to 30 days from the usual two to three years. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles announced Friday that the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and several other government agencies would craft the proposed circular to streamline the procedures of land conversion. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles (SCREENSHOT / RTVM / FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN) The latest action was reached after President Duterte unleashed an outburst about the slow land conversion in the country due to bureaucratic red tape and threat of communist rebels during a Cabinet meeting last Wednesday. "Several agencies are now working hand in hand to streamline the process involved in land conversion. The DAR reported to the Cabinet that there is an urgent need to streamline the current process for land conversion to address pending applications and to fast-track the approval and/or disapproval of new applications,” Nograles said during a Palace press briefing. "To do this, different departments namely the DAR, DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government), DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources), DOE (Department of Energy), HUDCC (Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council), NCIP (National Commission for Indigenous Peoples), NHA (National Housing Authority), LRA (Land Registration Authority], HLURB (Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board) and SHF (Social Housing Finance Corp.) have decided to work together to draft a joint memorandum circular that will streamline the process of approval or disapproval of land conversion applications from the current 24 to 36 months to 30 days," he said. The memorandum circular will be finalized and presented to the President for his approval within 30 days or on or before the next Cabinet meeting, according to Nograles. Nograles also explained that the President was "exasperated" with the many requirements needed for land conversion when the matter was discussed during the recent Cabinet meeting. He said the President understood the "tedious" processing of land conversion application following presentation by concerned officials before the Cabinet. "Because of that, the Cabinet has resolved to immediately come up with the memorandum circular to hopefully speed up the processes," he said. He acknowledged that the previous moratorium on land conversion contributed to the delays in the processing of applications. Also, Nograles said Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones still enjoys the trust and confidence of the President despite his concerns about the sluggish land conversion. He noted that Castriciones presented proposals to speed up the process, including the acceptance of applications that are accompanied by complete supporting documents. The President walked out of a Cabinet meeting last Wednesday after expressing frustration over the sluggish government transactions due to red tape and corruption. Duterte, in his remarks at the oath taking ceremonies of newly appointed government officials last Thursday, said he discovered there were some applications pending before the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for 25 years. He was also disappointed that it took two years to process the conversion of agricultural lands to non-agricultural purposes such as commercial use. He said he left the Cabinet meeting and asked Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to take over. "This is not really something to dwell on lengthily pero the system itself is designed to experience a failed government,” he said.