AROUND P104 million worth of substandard construction materials have been seized by the government as of this week, Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (Parr) Panfilo M. Lacson reported.
"Since July 8 this year, the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), have already conducted successful raids in three different establishments which resulted in the seizure of subpar construction materials," said Lacson, in his keynote message, during the opening of the Philconstruct Mindanao 2014 at SMX Convention Center, SM Lanang Premier Thursday.
He said the raids were done in Tacloban City, General Trias, Cavite, and Cabuyao City, Laguna.
Construction materials that were seized included roofing sheets, steel bars, wires, nails, and plywood materials. Lacson the seized materials "were clearly substandard" as validated by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) officials who accompanied the PNP operatives during the conduct of the operations.
"As a result, at least 29 individuals were arrested and charged for violation of Republic Act 7394 (Consumer Act of the Philippines)," Lacson said.
"As a bit of a background, last April 15, I formally requested DTI Secretary Gregory Domingo for the deputation of the PNP-CIDG to assist in the conduct of operations...so that they (those selling subpar construction materials) could not pose danger to life and property of consumers in the calamity affected areas," he said.
"Acting on my request, DTI Secretary Domingo issued a Memorandum on May 8, 2014 which deputized the PNP-CIDG to carry out such enforcement and operations," Lacson said.
He said enforcing zero tolerance against substandard materials is part of their mandate.
"We will ensure that appropriate cases will be filed and pursued against traders of substandard construction materials," Lacson said.
He also called on the private sector to join efforts in purging the local market of inferior construction materials, especially now that they are in the implementation phase of rehabilitating Yolanda.
"There is no question that the proliferation of poor quality construction materials poses a big problem to our reconstruction efforts. The use of substandard and defective products will compromise all infrastructure projects and the lives we are trying to protect," Lacson said.