SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III on Tuesday urged the government to prosecute manufacturers and importers of substandard steel reinforcement bars or rebars, saying these compromise public safety.
“We should revoke their permits and tighten quality control measures to limit the importation of substandard rebars,” Pimentel said in a statement.
Suspension of manufacturing and importation permits falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The DTI and the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) recently reported the proliferation of substandard rebars in Mindanao and Northern Luzon.
“We should determine where they came from. Someone should be held accountable so that other manufacturers and importers would not follow suit,” the senator added in Filipino.
Pimentel warned that use of such low-quality construction materials could compromise the structural integrity of construction projects.
“These substandard rebars and all other low-quality materials could put lives at risk. The DTI and PISI should conduct nationwide test-buy operations and crackdown on manufacturers, sellers and importers,” he said.
In recent test-buy operation conducted by DTI and PISI representatives among hardware stores in Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Norte, Samal Island, Cotabato City, Pagadian City and Iligan City from September 9 to 13, it was found that rebars sold in Mindanao failed to meet the minimum standard for weight and were prone to brittleness.
The same faulty materials were found earlier in Northern Luzon hardware stores.
“The steel industry had found substandard rebars in random test buys in Mindanao last September, just a few weeks after finding the same problem in its July test buys in Northern Luzon,” PISI said.
“Based on the information gathered from the test buys, the inferior rebars are enough to build more than 10,000 houses per month, putting at risk up to 30,000 people,” it added.
Pimentel said the Department of Public Works and Highways must ensure that no substandard rebars or any construction materials were used in infrastructure projects, especially in the construction of public roads, bridges, schools and buildings.
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