Marcos: Substandard steel problem 'bigger than most people know'

The use of substandard steel being as building material in the Philippines is very dangerous and a "bigger" problem than most people realize, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Sunday.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Marcos said that companies making substandard steel products began to proliferate around 2018.

"Meron pa tayo sigurong makikita dahil tuloy-tuloy ang paghahanap natin at noong una akala naming iilan lang, tapos habang tumatagal yung imbestigasyon parang baka meron pa pala," he said.

(We will probably turn up more of these because our search continues, and we had thought that there would only be a few of these, but as time went on we found more.)

In August, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it identified 20 factories allegedly selling and distributing substandard and radioactive steel, in the wake of the raid on a factory in Davao City.

The NBI said that facility was selling and distributing substandard and radioactive steel, with the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) confirming the presence of toxic substances at the site, to which workers may have been exposed.

"Napaka delikado niyan, kasi ginagamit yung bakal. Meron na tayong suspetsa na yung mga ibang building na nalalaglag ay dahil substandard yung ginamit nila," Marcos said.

(It's very dangerous because the steel is being used. We have a suspicion that the use of substandard steel may be behind the collapse of some buildings.)

"That's very dangerous, because if you cannot trust your building materials, you cannot trust the building," he added.

Marcos did not lay the blame on building contractors, saying that it was likely they did not know about the quality of the steel purchased for the construction.

"The contractors for the most part sumusunod sa plano [follow the building plans]. It's the inspector...bakit nakalusot ang bakal na yan [how did the substandard steel get past them]," he said.

Marcos said building materials should be tested so that any flaws could be caught before the products are purchased and used in construction.

"Unfortunately meron talaga kaming nakita na substandard na palabas na, gagamitin na [we really did find substandard materials that were coming out, about to be used]," he said. "Nahuli naman [They were caught in time], but we'll keep looking. This is very dangerous."

Marcos said that the makers of these substandard products have proliferated due to the length of time they have been able to operate.

"Dahil sa tagal na nilang nandyan, siguro yung natayo nila madami-dami na 'yan," he said.

(With how long they've been around, they've probably been able to put up a lot of buildings.)

He even likened substandard material makers to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.

"Kagaya siguro ng POGO 'yan, na nung hinuli natin nagulat tayong lahat at ang laki na pala ng kanilang operation," he said.

(They might be like the POGOs, that when we caught them we were all surprised at how big the operation had gotten.)

Then Marcos added that it might not be as big a problem as POGOs, but that it is still big.

"I don't think this will be that bad, but it's bigger than most people know," he said. — BM, GMA News