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Sunday, April 13, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 183
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 18 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
BIG ONE? NOT WITH SUBSTANDARD STEEL AROUND
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MICHAEL EDWARDS | DREAMSTIME.COM
The Myanmar mega-quake that toppled structures in its Asean neighbors sends the Philippines scrambling, for the nth time, to assess its readiness for a major disaster. But this time, focus is on a key culprit: compromised structural integrity from substandard steel.
By Andrea E. San Juan
The spectacular collapse of a building in its finishing stages in Thailand spawned another frenzy of panicked reminders from stakeholders who lamented the Philippines’s own unpreparedness for a major killer earthquake—projected to be way more destructive than the ones it reckoned with before. In Congress, both chambers vowed to conduct investigations in aid of legislation, not just because of the Myanmar/Thailand quake but also because, just days before that event, a newly opened bridge in Isabela province collapsed, injuring six people and causing massive property damage. Last week, the race to monitor the integrity of Philippine structures, and identify those that need urgent retrofitting—or even condemning for public use—became even more urgent with alarming revelations of the proliferation of substandard steel bars around the country. Being located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region prone to
earthquakes and volcanic activity, the last thing the country needs to avert a major disaster is to have such substandard steel bars being used for ongoing and future construction. The revelation that the issue of substandard steel bars—which had been the subject of a DTI white paper way back 2019—remains a problem has prompted experts to pick up lessons from the recent earthquakes that struck Myanmar and Bangkok.
Substandard steel very much around
AT a media briefing in Manila last week, Roberto Cola, former president of the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) and a member of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), reported that substandard steel bars already banned in some countries are still lurking around the steelmaking plants in the country.
HRLUMANOG | DREAMSTIME.COM
TEEL industry experts and government officials are reckoning with the loose ends hounding the Philippines’s preparedness for “The Big One,” as substandard building materials have again become the focus following the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that recently struck Myanmar and Thailand.
INDUSTRY & GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
Expert Recommendations (Cola & PISI): n Total ban on IF-produced steel n Shut down IF plants n Process audits in steel plants n Monitor hardware stores (reseller market) Government Response (DTI-BPS): n No ban yet n PS licenses issued even to IF steelmakers n Open to policy review
STEEL TRAP: THE SUBSTANDARD SCARE Government officials and industry leaders tackle the growing concern over substandard steel during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum held in Manila. Among the panel were Roberto Cola of DOST-MIRDC; Ronald Magsajo, President of the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI); John Steven Magboo from the DTI Bureau of Philippine Standards; and OCD Administrator Usec. Ariel Nepomuceno. Cola revealed that around 3 million metric tons of substandard steel are currently circulating across the country, posing significant risks—especially for Filipinos constructing homes via do-it-yourself (DIY) methods. The issue underscores urgent calls for stricter quality control and regulatory enforcement in the steel market, amid increasing infrastructure demand and ongoing post-pandemic reconstruction efforts. NONIE REYES
PROBLEM: SUBSTANDARD STEEL BARS STILL CIRCULATING
n Steel Source: Induction Furnaces (IF)
n IF Output (PHL): From <150K MT in 2017 n Harm: Fails to remove impurities n Status: Still in use in PHL
3 MMT in 2024 Inconsistent quality Hazardous
n Banned in: China (2017), Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan
These are steel bars produced by facilities using induction furnaces (IF) which experts have long deemed substandard and could pose a threat to building safety. Cola emphasized that these IF-produced steel bars continue to proliferate in the market. In fact, he said: “For the Philippines, induction furnace steelmaking capacity increased from less than 150,000 MT per year in 2017 to around 3 million MT [MMT] today.” He explained that these facilities are the main source of substandard deformed steel bars and angle bars in the market today. This is because IF facilities do not remove harmful elements in the liquid steel, resulting in the inconsistent quality of products they churn out. Continued on A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.2230 n JAPAN 0.3959 n UK 74.2468 n HK 7.3756 n CHINA 7.8248 n SINGAPORE 42.9828 n AUSTRALIA 35.6099 n EU 64.0669 n KOREA 0.0394 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.2448 Source: BSP (April 11, 2025)