The Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) has vowed to continue supporting the government’s crack down on substandard steel in the domestic market.
In a statement, PISI president Ro-nald Magsajo said the group will continue to conduct test buys across the country to identify stores that sell substandard steel products.
Over the past years, PISI initiated its own test buy acti-vities and coordinated with the government, particularly the Department of Trade and Industry, to crack down on manufacturers and sellers of substandard, deformed, and re-rolled steel products.
“The institute remains to be an advocate and industry partner in promoting safety and adherence to Philippine national standards,” Magsajo said.
He said substandard steel products still proliferate in the local market and this pose risk to public safety.
“This is especially worrisome, as the Philippines is prone to natural disasters. Just recently, we saw a magnitude 7.0 earthquake rock the northern regions in Luzon. We can only imagine the scale of destruction when low-quality steel products make their way into homes, buildings, bridges, and other infrastructures,” Magsajo added.
Through the test buy activities of PISI in 16 provinces last year, it found 35 stores selling substandard steel products.
PISI also disco-vered 27 out of 130 assorted steel rebars failed quality tests. PISI coordinated with the Bureau of Philippine Standards to initiate necessary actions against the violators. – PNA
