Manila, July 31 -- Abra lone district Rep. JB Bernos backed the impending release of an order mandating compliance with updated seismic-grade steel standards.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has announced that it expects to issue this August an order to comply with updated standards released by the Bureau of Philippine Standards in May. These standards remain voluntary pending the issuance of the memorandum.

"Safety first, especially when we are talking about thousands of lives that could be at stake because of sub-par construction materials. Hindi tayo dapat magtipid o kaya gumamit ng sub-par materials sa mga imprastruktura dahil maraming buhay ang maaaring mawala pag nagkataon (We should not scrimp or use sub-par constructi...