The Philippine Iron and Steel Institute said over the weekend it will intensify the campaign against substandard and unmarked reinforced steel bars after a new batch of suspect rebars were found in a recent test-buy operation.
PISI informed the Department of Trade and Industry that substandard rebars were found in hardware stores in Central Luzon.
Unmarked rebars along with rebars embossed with non-registered logos were also discovered. These rebars are banned because their manufacturer could not be identified, traced and sanctioned, according to PISI president Ronald Magsajo.
Magsajo said PISI would intensify its test-buy operations and work closely with DTI to stop the malpractice and to protect the public.
The latest samples were taken by PISI representatives from hardware stores and sent to the Bureau of Philippine Standards which sent them for testing by the Metals Industry Research and Development Center.