As much as 40 percent of steel bars—a critical construction material—inspected by the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) have been found non-compliant with government standards.
Ronald Magsajo, president of PISI, said during the “Kapihan sa Manila Bay” forum on April 9, 2025, that based on their monitoring and inspections, steel bars sold in the domestic market show a concerning failure rate of 30 to 40 percent, depending on the area.
As part of its advocacy, PISI officials conduct random market inspections. If a seller is found non-compliant, the institute reports the case to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), specifically to the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS), for appropriate action—such as issuing a reprimand or conducting factory audits of the manufacturer.
To address the root cause of substandard steel bars, Roberto Cola, a member of the Metals Industry Research and Development Center Governing Council, reiterated during the forum his call for the government to implement a total ban on the use of traditional induction furnaces (IF) in steel processing. He stressed that doing so is necessary to produce steel products that meet government specifications.
Cola pointed out that countries like China, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand have already banned induction furnace processing due to its inability to produce steel rebars with the required strength and quality, as well as its contribution to pollution.
Despite this, the volume of rebars produced using IF technology in the Philippines has grown significantly—from just 150,000 tons to 3 million tons. This increase is attributed to the relocation of IF equipment from other countries to the Philippines.
Engr. John Steven M. Magboo, Senior Trade-Industry Development Specialist at the Standards Conformity Division (SCD) of BPS, explained that BPS continues to accept IF applications because no law or administrative order currently bans the technology in the country.
He said BPS conducts system and product audits at steel plants. Steel bars are tested at the DTI laboratory in Cavite and by third-party testing laboratories.
Only when a product passes tests under PNS 49:2020—the Philippine National Standard (PNS) for steel bars—does the BPS issue a three-year license, subject to annual monitoring. The BPS also issues show-cause orders against non-compliant manufacturers and can suspend their licenses.
Magboo emphasized that while PNS 49:2020 specifies the standards for steel bars, the choice of production process is currently left to the manufacturer. However, he noted that if a policy decision is made to support PISI’s call for an IF ban, the DTI could issue supplementary guidelines to implement it.
Meanwhile, Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, administrator of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), said that if the induction furnace process is indeed incapable of producing standard-compliant steel bars and has been banned in other countries, then a technical regulation may be warranted.
He stressed that the OCD’s primary mandate is to protect and ensure the safety of Filipinos—especially during calamities. He underscored that the first line of defense during earthquakes is the structural integrity of buildings and houses, given the Philippines’ location on major fault lines, particularly the West Valley Fault System and over 170 other known faults.
