Steel lobby finds substandard rebar in Samar, Leyte
THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) should closely monitor the rebuilding activities in earthquake-hit Leyte and Samar after uncertified reinforcement steel bars were found in the damaged structures, the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) said.
In a letter to DTI-Consumer Protection Group (CPG) Undersecretary Teodoro C. Pascua dated July 28, the umbrella organization for the local steel industry said it looked into five areas affected by the 6.5-magnitude earthquake which hit on July 6 and found uncertified rebar in a number of collapsed residential and commercial buildings and sub-standard rebar being sold in the market.
During the inspection, the PISI team was able to purchase rebars with marginal tensile strength in random “test buy” operations in several hardware stores. Rebar with a nine millimeter diameter that did not meet the specifications of Philippine National Standards (PNS) 211:2002 and PNS 49:2002 mandatory standards was also available in the market.
PISI said the uncertified products were “most likely imported” and failed to undergo the import commodity clearance procedures of the DTI, passing through the Bureau of Customs without the benefit of inspection and testing.
The group “strongly recommends” that DTI-CPG immediately launch a regular market monitoring/standards enforcement in Leyte and Samar complemented by an aggressive campaign to prevent additional uncertified imported rebar from passing through the ports.
“Considering that these earthquakedamaged areas will not start rebuilding, it is necessary to remove dangerous rebar from the market,” PISI said, noting that reconstruction projects are also ongoing in these two provinces devastated by typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
The investigation covered the areas of Kananga, Palo, Ormoc City and Tacloban City in Leyte and the town of Basey in Samar.
PISI sent a team on July 19 to inspect the areas affected by the earthquake as part of a routine procedure to ascertain the brands and quality of rebar used in the damaged structures following earthquakes in Cebu and Bohol in October 2013 and Surigao in April. —