THE smuggling of counterfeit steel angle bars are still rampant in the provinces as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expressed alarm that some of the inspected products in the city and province of Davao and Pampanga were suspiciously missing.

Director Pete Mendoza of DTI-Bureau of Protect Standards admitted that because of the continuous smuggling operations, the agency’s market monitoring and enforcement operations have failed to address the problem on fake steel angle bars in the market.

“These contraband steel products thrive in the market because they are cheaper and the people are buying them,” Mendoza said.

He also added that they have intensified their coordination with the Bureau of Customs and the Philippine National Police in monitoring the shipment of smuggled steel angle bars from abroad, mostly from China.

Chief Benjamin Subido of DTI-Legal Affairs said that current fines and penalties on erring violators, including smugglers and retail stores, are too small to serve as deterrent.

“What we can only to do is to slap them administrative fines and confiscate the contraband items. And what is a P1,000 or even P100,000 fine for big-time smugglers? They can always pay the fine and go back to their old business,” Subido said.

The DTI also expressed alarm that some of the uncertified steel angle bars in Davao and Pampanga have been missing. These products were supposed to be subjected for sealing by the DTI.

In Davao, DTI Region 9 reported that 36.19 metric tons of uncertified steel angle bars owned by Davao Goldstar Hardware Inc. suspiciously disappeared after an inspection.

While in Pampanga, DTI Region 3 reported that 80.39MT of uncer-tified steel angle bars owned by Royal Garden Hardware have also gone missing suspiciously.

For his part, Ramon Tan, spokesman of the Steel, Angles, Shapes and Sections Manufacturers Association of the Philippines Inc. also expressed alarm that up to 50 percent of available steel angle bars being sold in the domestic market are sub-standard.

He also said that the Bureau of Internal Revenue loses more than P500 million in its revenues due to the continuous and rampant entry of container vans with steel angle bars.

“We believe that these sub-standard steel angle bars smugglers continue to cheat our hardware owners, construction firms and developers, as well as government,” he added.

Mostly used in building and bridge construction, steel angle bars are length of steel or iron bent at right angle and used as support or structural framework.