Speaking to journalists following the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, Marcos said available records indicate that substandard materials began to become more widespread from 2018 onward.
Marcos said new producers could be identified as the investigation progresses and noted that products from companies that have been operating for many years may have been used in a large number of structures. He stated that substandard steel poses a risk to structural safety and said authorities suspect that such products may have been used in some collapsed buildings.
Marcos also stated that contractors may not have known that the steel they used was substandard. He noted that contractors generally follow project specifications and said the investigation should examine how the products passed inspections after leaving the factories.
As part of the investigation, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other authorized agencies raided Davao Mighty Steel’s facility in Davao City on August 13. Technical inspections at the site detected uranium-238, thorium-228, thorium-232 and radium-226 in finished rebar and in materials in the production and storage areas. The company reportedly did not have a permit to possess or process radioactive materials.
Of eight DMS marked rebar samples collected from commercial outlets in Mindanao, four were found not to comply with the mandatory mass tolerance requirement under PNS 49:2020.
DMS marked rebar was also found in the debris of some structures that collapsed following the magnitude 7.8 Mindanao earthquake on June 8, 2026. The NBI stated that the presence of the products in the debris alone does not prove that they caused the building collapses and that engineering investigations will continue.
The Philippine government is continuing the investigation to determine the distribution and use of the affected products, monitor products in the market and prevent rebar considered unsafe from entering the supply chain.
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