Philippines: Chinese substandard steel in South Luzon may be disaster risk–Pisi
By Elijah Felice Rosales
Substandard steel is prevalent in Southern Luzon, local steelmakers have claimed, and they want the government to conduct an immediate audit of hardwares in the region.
The Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (Pisi) said numerous hardware stores in Laguna, Cavite, Batangas and Mindoro Occidental are selling low-grade reinforcing steel bars. The alleged substandard products were discovered by Pisi in its recent market monitoring operations.
[...]
“We are concerned that substandard rebars are being openly sold in the provinces of Mindoro, Batangas, Laguna and Cavite. These steel products are used for construction of homes in these provinces—which are usually visited by typhoons, flash floods and, sometimes, earthquakes—and, thus, they need to use quality construction materials,” [Pisi President Roberto M.] Cola said.
“The proliferation of substandard steel in these provinces poses grave danger to families living in these provinces,” he added.
[...]