Among the countries in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines is the only country implementing ‘subpar standards’ for steel products, according to Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI).
‘We have to raise the standards for steel. Hindi na puwede iyong puwede na,’ PISI President Ronald C. Magsajo told the BusinessMirror on the sidelines of the Federation of Philippine Industries Inc. (FPI) Business Summit 2025 last week.
‘Let’s raise the standard, make sure that our products are meant for the zone-Pacific Ring of Fire, earthquake-resistant ‘yung ginagamit natin because not all our standards today are pang-earthquake. We still have low standards,’ he added.
For steel, he said the country is still implementing minimum standard which had already been delisted from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) in 1970.
‘Now, for steel, our minimum standard was delisted from ASTM back in 1970. That’s our minimum. In 1970, the standard was not accepted in other countries. But we’re still implementing it today. So, we have to raise that standard so we can at least level up. And then we have to implement that standard and make sure that [everyone] complies,’ Magsajo said.
Asked if the Philippines is the only country implementing such low standards, he told this paper: ‘Among the Pacific Ring of Fire countries, we’re the only ones with such standards.’
However, Magsajo pointed out that the raising of standards is ‘something I think that’s ongoing now with DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] in cooperation with the Association of Structural Engineers in the Philippines.’
With the earthquakes that recently hit some parts of the country, the industry leader said there are two issues that must be addressed in implementing steel standards in the Philippines.
‘So, there are two issues. First is raising the raising the standard and second is ensuring compliance with the standards,’ added Magsajo.
‘Because the issue raised with regard to standards, may standard ka na nga, hindi ka pa nagko-comply. So those are two separate but joint issues.’
As to the standards being implemented by the Philippines vis-a-vis its neighboring countries, Magsajo explained: ‘Not all of Asia or Asean countries has seismic zones so they have different standards.’
However, he noted that while Malaysia is not a seismic country or a country which experiences significant earthquake activity, it has higher standards than the Philippines.
The steel industry leader said now is an ‘opportune time’ for the Philippines to rethink the standards it implements.
‘It’s an opportune time for us. We’ve been talking about The Big One for 10 years now,’ he said.
With this, Magsajo prodded the government to focus on three priority areas in implementing standards not only for steel products but for construction materials being used in infrastructure.
‘One is if we can raise the minimum standards for materials, then that should help. Second is the practice, it’s all over the news now, we have ghost projects, substandard construction practices. So, those practices should be eliminated,’ Magsajo added.
He said that while Filipino engineers and scientists are ‘smart,’ there is a lot of work to be done when it comes to implementation and ‘unscrupulous’ practices of manufacturers.
‘Except the implementation below, it’s lacking. And then you have the you have the unscrupulous naman for manufacturers, retailers, or sellers na para lang makakita ako ng pera, benta ako ng substandard. It shouldn’t be like that,’ added Magsajo.
On enforcement, Magsajo said there is a lack of manpower and ‘natural knowledge’ of products.
‘So, there’s a lot of things that need to be monitored. Also the mindset of the consumer [must be changed] as they usually opt for cheap materials,’ he said.