THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) should closely monitor the rebuilding activities in earthquake-hit Leyte and Samar after uncertified reinforcement steel bars were found in the damaged structures, the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI) said.

In a letter to DTI-Consumer Protection Group (CPG) Undersecretary Teodoro C. Pascua dated July 28, the umbrella organization for the local steel industry said it looked into five areas affected by the 6.5-magnitude earthquake which hit on July 6 and found uncertified rebar in a number of collapsed residential and commercial buildings and sub-standard rebar being sold in the market.

During the inspection, the PISI team was able to purchase rebars with marginal tensile strength in random “test buy” operations in several hardware stores. Rebar with a nine millimeter diameter that did not meet the specifications of Philippine National Standards (PNS) 211:2002 and PNS 49:2002 mandatory standards was also available in the market.

PISI said the uncertified products were “most likely imported” and failed to undergo the import commodity clearance procedures of the DTI, passing through the Bureau of Customs without the benefit of inspection and testing.

The group “strongly recommends” that DTI-CPG immediately launch a regular market monitoring/standards enforcement in Leyte and Samar complemented by an aggressive campaign to prevent additional uncertified imported rebar from passing through the ports.

“Considering that these earthquake-damaged areas will not start rebuilding, it is necessary to remove dangerous rebar from the market,” PISI said, noting that reconstruction projects are also ongoing in these two provinces devastated by typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

The investigation covered the areas of Kananga, Palo, Ormoc City and Tacloban City in Leyte and the town of Basey in Samar.

PISI sent a team on July 19 to inspect the areas affected by the earthquake as part of a routine procedure to ascertain the brands and quality of rebar used in the damaged structures following earthquakes in Cebu and Bohol in October 2013 and Surigao in April. — Krista Angela M. Montealegre

THE PHILIPPINES is “in sync” with its regional peers in its economic growth story, but better-positioned than some, amid the broadening of the recovery in the Asia-Pacific led by external demand, local consumption, and investment, economists at Morgan Stanley Research said.

Morgan Stanley rated the Philippines’ overall growth trend at “slightly up,” following a “slightly up” rating on consumption and investment, and an “up” rating on government spending and a “neutral” assessment for external demand.

The slightly up reading for overall growth matches that of Australia, India and Singapore, while China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand were rated “neutral.” Receiving a “down” rating were Indonesia and Taiwan.

According to the research note, the Philippine economy is seeing a “recovery in domestic demand alongside supportive external demand.”

In Morgan Stanley’s view, export growth eased to a 13.7% year on year in May from the 19.1% uptick in May, but “remains robust relative to historical trend,” despite the slowdown.

The latest government estimates by the Philippine Statistics Authority have exports growing 12.1% in April.

“Domestic demand indicators have firmed in recent months… while passenger car sales registered positive growth for the second month,” Morgan Stanley said.

The Philippines saw a 5.8% uptick in May industrial production, greater than April’s 4.3%. Car sales meanwhile grew 14.4% in June, nearly doubling May’s 7.3% growth, according to Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley said the government’s fiscal deficit widened to 2.3% of gross domestic product in May, while the current account deficit narrowed to 0.4% of gross domestic product in March.

The analysts expect monetary policy to be kept unchanged this year.

“For the other central banks, however, we expect rates to be either kept on hold or hiked (in Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan) from later this year/early next year.” — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan