Substandard steel bars (rebars) have been found in various provinces in northern Luzon in random test buys conducted by the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI).
“Public safety is a major issue here. The PISI is coordinating with DTI Consumer/Regional Operations Group and various government agencies to address this problem” said PISI president Ronald Magsajo.
The PISI provides the agency the required information and technical know-how to support their initiative to enforce, confiscate and do product recalls of all non-conforming and substandard steel products, Magsajo added.
The PISI bought 33 samples from 16 hardware stores late in July in Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Isabela, and Nueva Vizcaya and had them tested for compliance with the Philippine National Standard for rebars.
Thirteen samples failed to meet the minimum standard for mass variation and elongation.
These were produced by Phil Sanjia Steel Corp., Chuangxing Steel. Phil Koktai Metal, Wanchiong Steel Corp and Teewee Steel Corp. These findings were confirmed in tests conducted by the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS) Testing Laboratory in Cavite.
At the same time, PISI is closely coordinating with the both the DTI Fair Trade Group and DTI Regional Operations Group on a nationwide awareness campaign on steel standards
