14/08/2026
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The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) supports the continuing whole-of-government effort to protect the public from unsafe and potentially hazardous steel products following an inter-agency law-enforcement operation at Davao Mighty Steel Corporation in Barangay Ilang, Bunawan, Davao City.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), as the lead law-enforcement agency, initiated the investigation following reports that the company was manufacturing and distributing substandard reinforcing steel bars. The investigation later expanded after the PhilippineNuclear Research Institute (PNRI) detected radioactive isotopes in commerciallydistributed DMS reinforcing steel.
On 13 August 2026, the NBI and PAOCC, with the assistance of the PNRI, Philippine Air Force and Philippine Coast Guard CBRN units, PCG Special Operations Group, and the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, implemented search warrants at the company's steel manufacturing facility.
The operation also resulted in the rescue of 174 Filipino workers, removing them from an industrial environment subsequently found to contain radioactive-bearing materials, dust, fumes, wastes, and production residues that posed risks of continued
occupational exposure.
Technical examinations confirmed the presence of radioactive isotopes, including Uranium-238, Thorium-228, Thorium-232, and Radium-226, across different stages and areas of the company's operations. These were documented in finished DMS rebars, furnace-related materials, residual black sand, industrial powders, dust, wastes, wastewater, and other production and stored materials.
PNRI further certified that the company and its identified officers and personnel did not possess the required license or authority to acquire, receive, possess, use, store, sell, transfer, import, or export nuclear or radioactive materials. The DENR inspection likewise found that the company's Environmental Compliance Certificate did not declare or authorize the presence, handling, processing, storage, or use of radioactive materials within the facility.
Separate product-standard testing also raised serious concerns over DMS reinforcing steel already circulating in the market. Of eight samples purchased from commercial hardware establishments across Mindanao, four, or 50 percent, failed the mandatory mass-variation requirement under PNS 49:2020.
The case gained further public-safety significance after NBI investigators documented DMS-marked reinforcing steel bars in the rubble of structures that collapsed following the magnitude 7.8 Mindanao earthquake on 8 June 2026, including schools, hospitals, government buildings, barangay health centers, and residences in affected areas of Sarangani, Davao del Sur, and Davao Occidental. Authorities stressed, however, that the presence of DMS rebars in the collapsed structures does not by itself establish that the steel caused their collapse. Determining
the cause of the structural failures remains subject to appropriate engineering assessment.
The NBI has referred the case to the Department of Justice for appropriate proceedings involving alleged violations of Republic Act No. 12305 or the Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act, Republic Act No. 6969 or the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act, Presidential Decree No. 1586 or the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System, and Republic Act No. 7394 or the Consumer
Act of the Philippines.
PAOCC emphasized that this is a law-enforcement and public-safety matter involving the protection of workers, consumers, communities, the environment, and the safety and resilience of the country's infrastructure.
According to PAOCC Executive Director Undersecretary Benjamin C. Acorda, Jr.: โMalinaw ang ating layunin at ito ay ang protektahan ang buhay at kaligtasan ng bawat Pilipino. We fully support the NBI as the lead law-enforcement agency, as well as all our partner agencies, in this operation. Kapag may ebidensiya na ang bakal na pumapasok sa ating merkado ay substandard o may radioactive materials, kailangang kumilos ang gobyerno. We will follow the evidence, enforce the law, and ensure that those responsible are held accountable in accordance with law and due process.โ
The NBI and PAOCC will continue coordinating with the PNRI, DENR, DTI, DOLE, DOH, and other concerned government agencies to secure radioactive-bearing materials, protect workers and communities, trace affected steel products already in commerce, and prevent potentially unsafe reinforcing steel from further entering the country's construction supply chain.
The safety of the Filipino people remains our highest priority.
