MANILA, Philippines – Over P15 million (US$346,200)* in “substandard construction materials” were seized from a warehouse in Tacloban city, Leyte, according to police.

Personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Wednesday, July 23, searched a warehouse in Tacloban which led to the seizure of corrugated GI and plain sheets, steel bars, and plywood with no Philippine standard (PS) quality mark.

The raided warehouse, JJ Mega Holdings Corporation, was suspected of violating the Consumer Act of the Philippines. A certain Eddie Fan was tagged as the manager of the company.

Superintendent Joey Bowenn Masauding, Eastern Visayas Criminal Investigation and Detection unit chief said the materials seized in the warehouse allegedly came from China.

Earlier in July, the CIDG also nabbed P40 million in substandard constuction materials. In a statement, CIDG chief Police Director Benjamin Magalong said some of the materials were being sent to Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)-devastated areas.

Yolanda barrelled through Eastern Visayas and other nearby regions in November 2013, leaving behinds thousands dead, billions in infrastructure damage, and thousands of destroyed homes.

Magalong said the search of warehouses were in response to a request by Presidential Assistant for Rehab and Recovery Secretary Panfilo Lacson for the CIDG to be deputized by Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo. Lacson was once the chief of the PNP. – Rappler.com

*US$1 = P43.3