Activist group SEEDS PH is optimistic that more local government units (LGUs) will move against steel angle bar manufacturers using obsolete technology.
This developed after the municipality of Sta. Maria, Bulacan shut down a steel angle bar manufacturing plant using induction furnaces and found violating local and national environmental regulations.
SEEDS PH submitted proof the company sells and produces substandard angle bars using obsolete and environmentally destructive induction furnaces already banned in China for its harsh impact on the environment and health of surrounding communities.
Sta. Maria, Bulacan mayor Bartolome Ramos suspended the operations of Hightension Industrial Corp. on the basis of a complaint by SEEDS PH for operating without an updated environmental clearance certificate and permits to operate pollution-control facilities.
The LGU of Sta. Maria also said the business also violated local revenue and environmental ordinances, national decrees and laws on the environmental impact statement system, the Sanitary Code of the Philippines, the National Building Code, and the Real Property Tax Code.
Ramos said the suspension remains in effect “until compliance of deficient documents.” The LGU may take further legal action if the company fails to abide by the order.
“We hope that other local officials and our national government regulators, especially the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of Trade and Industry, will follow the footsteps of Mayor Ramos and take decisive action against establishments operating without regard for the environment and the health of the public,” said Dona Cristino, SEEDS PH secretary general.
Cristino said induction furnaces made their way into the Philippines immediately after Beijing banned them in 2017 for causing widespread air pollution in China.
Citing SEED PH investigations, she said induction furnaces are used in steel plants across the country, including Sta. Maria and Pulilan in Bulacan, Valenzuela and Cagayan de Oro.
Apart from being environmentally destructive, Cristino said the products produced by these furnaces do not conform with the Philippine National Standard, putting at risk the lives and properties of Filipinos.
Cristino said induction furnaces produce substandard products because such are incapable of removing impurities, making their quality poor.
