The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announced Friday, June 9, that it has tapped a private auditing firm to assess the systems and processes of the agency's two line bureaus — the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).
DENR’s partnership with Isla Lipana & Co. (PwC Philippines) seeks to review the existing policies of the MGB and EMB to pinpoint the major gaps in their processes and functions.
PwC Philippines is a professional services company that offers tax, advising, and auditing services both inside and outside of the Philippines.
The partnership was formalized through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Environment Secretary Maria Antonia “Toni” Yulo-Loyzaga and Alex Cabrera, chairman emeritus of PwC Philippines, at the DENR Central Office in Quezon City.
According to Loyzaga, a recent DENR Field Operations Management Conference revealed gaps in the agency's operations that offer the potential for synergy.
“This will be an opportunity to actually address those gaps and to build value on the efforts done by everyone in the department,” she said in a statement.
MGB is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs related to geology and the exploration, development, conservation, and utilization of mineral resources.
Meanwhile, EMB is the primary line bureau in charge of developing, supervising, and implementing policies and programs related to pollution prevention and control, waste management, and environmental impact assessments.
“The project shall conduct comprehensive assessment using appropriate governance, risk management, and compliance tools to review and assess risks in the existing systems and processes of MGB and EMB,” the DENR stated.
As such, it must also develop a five-year transformation roadmap with corresponding action plans and recommendations for improvement to fortify the DENR towards a better organizational performance.
The PwC will also provide technical partnership and assistance to deliver the DENR’s desired outcomes of strengthening the agency and its bureaus.
“At the end of the project, PwC shall submit a Completion Report with the results of organizational/process diagnosis and assessment; observations and areas for improvement, and indicative five-year transformation roadmap,” the agency said.