The BIG ONE hit Myanmar causing massive devastation in three countries. Looking on from a distance of 1,500 miles the Philippines has been reminded how the it could be destroyed in the blink of an eye. Senate President Escudero says the nation needs to inspect its infrastructure.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1247177 |
Senate President Francis Escudero on Monday called for more inspections of public and private structure nationwide to check the buildings’ integrity, citing the need for this given that the country lies along the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire.
In a statement, he cited the destruction caused by the March 28 magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Myanmar, which also affected Thailand -- countries with infrastructure comparable to the Philippines.
“We must see to it that regular inspections are conducted on public infrastructure and on the structures constructed by the private sector, particularly the office and residential buildings that have sprouted over the past decades,” Escudero said.
The call comes as the Senate advances several bills seeking to update and strengthen the country’s decades-old Building Code.
Among them are Escudero’s Senate Bill (SB) 289 and SB Nos. 1181, 1467, and 1970 filed by Senators Christopher Lawrence Go, Ramon Revilla Jr., and Majority Leader Francis Tolentino.
These proposed measures aim to repeal Presidential Decree No. 1096 or the National Building Code of the Philippines, and institutionalize stricter inspection and certification processes by local government building officials.
Escudero emphasized that the current Building Code lacks comprehensive provisions on structural integrity during earthquakes.
While the National Structural Code of the Philippines (NSCP), updated in 2015, serves as a referral guideline, it must be effectively enforced across all construction sectors, he said.
Escudero cited a 2004 study by Japan International Cooperation Agency, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, and the Metro Manila Development Authority that warned of the possibility of a 7.2-magnitude quake hitting Metro Manila, which could cause up to 34,000 deaths, collapse of 170,000 homes, and widespread fire damage.
“We need to take seriously disaster risk reduction and management initiatives at all times,” he said.
Yeah no kidding! There are already building codes in place but it doesn't matter unless they are followed. Then there is the issue of substandard construction material making its way into the Philippines. In fact substandard steel rebar is ALLOWED by the government to make its way into buildings and bridges.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2050621/substandard-steel-deadly-risks-bangkok-collapse-a-warning-for-ph |
The collapse of a 30-story government building in Bangkok is again raising alarm about the dangers of substandard construction materials — and what they could mean for the Philippines when a major earthquake hits.
At least 15 people were killed and more than 70 remain missing after the State Audit Office building, still under construction, came crashing down on March 28. The collapse was triggered by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck neighboring Myanmar but was strong enough to shake parts of Thailand.
Investigators later found that the building had used steel bars made by Xin Ke Yuan Steel Co., a Chinese manufacturer using induction furnace (IF) technology — a controversial process linked to weaker, lower-quality steel.
Tests by the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand confirmed that the rebars used in the building failed basic quality checks. They didn’t meet standards for weight, chemical makeup, or strength. Thai authorities also revealed that the factory that supplied the steel had already been ordered closed months earlier for safety violations.
But in the Philippines, steel made from induction furnaces continues to be allowed — and widely sold — despite years of warnings from industry experts and environmental groups.
In the Philippines, the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) has been sounding the alarm for years. Their lab tests have repeatedly found IF-made rebars being sold nationwide that are underweight, brittle, and fail to meet the Philippine National Standards (PNS 49:2002) — the country’s benchmark for safe, high-quality construction steel.
Rebars that don’t meet PNS specs may look the same as stronger ones, but they’re more likely to snap or crumble under pressure — especially in buildings, bridges, and roads meant to withstand heavy loads or earthquakes.
Induction furnaces melt scrap metal using electricity. But unlike electric arc furnaces (EAFs), IFs can’t remove impurities in the steel. That makes the end product cheaper, but also more inconsistent and risky to use in construction.
Environmental group SEEDS PH has called on the government to phase out IF steel altogether, calling it a pollutive, outdated, and dangerous technology. SEEDS PH Secretary-General Dona Cristino described the technology as a serious public risk:
“These IFs are like a double-whammy to us Filipinos: they destroy our environment and they produce substandard products,” Cristino said in an online report.
She also warned that many IF plants operate without updated environmental compliance certificates and pollution control permits — violations of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.
The group says these products don’t meet national standards and could put lives at risk, especially during typhoons and earthquakes.
In 2019, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) created a technical working group to review steel production standards. But as of 2025, there is still no official ban or clear restrictions on IF-produced steel in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, officials like Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno have made their position clear.
“Using substandard steel can compromise the strength of buildings, houses, and other structures such as bridges, warehouses, etc. Lives will be at risk if such buildings or structures collapse,” Nepomuceno told INQUIRER.net in an earlier interview.
How hard is it for the DTI and DENR to issue a ban on substandard steel? Are they busy with something more important? Are they receiving kickbacks from manufacturers?
Then there is just out and out corruption like the construction of the recently collapsed Isabela bridge.
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| https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2025/3/26/all-segments-of-collapsed-isabela-bridge-defective-accident-waiting-to-happen-cayetano-1955 |
All 12 segments of the collapsed Cabagan-Santa Maria bridge in Isabela turned out to have defects.
This, according to Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano during the continuation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. He based the finding on various reports from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from 2018 to 2020.
These include cracks, snapped bolts and deformed steel cross.
"Every single span has a problem. And these are based on reports that were submitted and I want to thank the DPWH but were ignored by the higher-ups," Cayetano said. "Every single one of them your field engineers noticed something. So much so that the DPWH asked to get an independent structural engineer."
A bridge has fallen, a billion peso bridge and we don't seem outraged.”
DPWH logged fewer segments with problems during construction citing only Spans 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8.
Cayetano added that 935 failures were recorded when urban engineers evaluated the bridge.
"It is not unexpected that the bridge collapsed because since 2018 until now five years, problem after problem after problem after problem and then there are so many fails," he said.
Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan explained the said failures were addressed during retrofitting.
They also hired a private consulting firm to study the condition of the bridge.
Bonoan clarified the bridge was under the custody of the contractor and had not yet been turned over to DPWH when it collapsed.
A special committee was created last March 18 to conduct a forensic investigation and is expected to submit a report to DPWH by April 25.
According to Bonoan, the contractor, R.D. Interior Jr. Construction, is waiting for the forensic investigation to be finished before reconstructing the bridge.
"Reconstruction of the collapsed span of bridge is still under the responsibility of the contractor and the contractor is willing to reconstruct the bridge anytime that the Department will give the go signal," Bonoan explained.
He estimates the reconstruction of Span 3 to be finished in less than a year but said other parts of the bridge should also be examined.
Almost a month after the collapse, the DPWH official said no one has been put on preventive suspension.
"There has not been any suspension that has been meted to any personality in the department simply because many of those who have been one way or the other involved in construction, supervision of the bridge are no longer connected with the department," Bonoan said.
Engineer Alberto Cañete, the bridge designer, admitted he knew his design was already obsolete because he finished it in 2012 or 2013, years before a new bridge code was released in 2015.
"I recommended in writing that it really needs to be redesigned and I believe that is the main reason why the retrofit is so expensive," Cañete said. "I'm very confident that finorensic investigation is going to be done, overloading it."
In an interview after the hearing, Cayetano assured the public that someone will be held responsible for the collapse. He is also looking at possible corruption.
"Obviously, there's a quiet cover-up that's happening," Cayetano said.
"I want them to know, if they don't turn around and they don't prove it, we have evidence against them. I still have something that hasn't been released."
He added, "The paperwork is more than enough to show that it wasn't an accident. This was waiting to happen."
How many more bridges, roads, and buildings are as shoddily built as the Isabela bridge? When will the government act by inspecting construction sites and enforcing the law?
