Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation recently secured the highest possible conformance rating awarded by External Quality Assurance Reviewers (EQAR) for the professional practice of Internal Audit. The Review was conducted by independent assessors from Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A), a member firm of Grant Thornton.
Pilipinas Shell's Corporate Assurance & Audit Department (CAAD) received this prestigious award after a thorough in-depth review of its charter, methodology, practices, and more importantly its impact and value added to its key stakeholders — particularly the PSPC Board and Senior Management.
Pilipinas Shell President and CEO, Lorelie Quiambao-Osial expressed her appreciation, saying that, “... it serves as another testament of Pilipinas Shell’s commitment to nation-building by holding itself to the highest of standards.” She thanked the company’s CAAD team, headed by Mark J. Nicdao, PSPC’s Chief Audit Executive, for their “hard work, resilience, and agility” as well as P&A for “their independent, objective and honest assessment.”
The external auditors’ assessment is an integral part of a company’s journey in maintaining product quality, operational standards, and consumer trust. It recognizes that an organization’s compliance with guidelines shows its commitment to higher standards and to customer centricity. It provides keen insight into how the company can improve the efficacy of its operations, evaluate and mitigate its risks, and further future proof is business.
Pilipinas Shell’s strong internal audit function is a testament to its sound corporate governance practices which strengthen stakeholder confidence. Its achievement in this area signifies CAAD’s commitment to professionalism, quality, collaboration, and continuous learning. It further demonstrates to the Pilipinas Shell board, management, and staff that CAAD is dedicated to upholding and enhancing the organization's controls and risk management framework and processes.
Pilipinas Shell’s auditing activities include Data Privacy, Price Risk Management, Staff Health and Productivity in Work-From-Home, Business Tax Processes, Information Security, Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) Reporting, and Enterprise Risk Management.
“This is the first time Pilipinas Shell underwent this activity, and it has earned the Generally Conforms Award,” according to Michael Gallego, the Lead Quality Assessor who was part of the P&A external assessment team. “Pilipinas Shell’s standards on internal auditing are outstanding and have met the global standards for a company in its industry. We’re happy to have provided the external assessment for them and we look forward to what Pilipinas Shell has instore for the future.”