Execs of raided steel firm cry harassment

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May 24, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Officials of a steel manufacturing company based in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental yesterday described as harassment the raid conducted on their facility by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission as well as the military.

“This was not about public safety. This was harassment packaged as law enforcement,” lawyer Julia Chu, spokesperson for the Philippine Sanjia Steel Corp., said.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. joined the raid on the facility last week, which targeted the alleged presence of hazardous materials being used in the company’s operation.

The facility is located inside the industrial estate of the Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corp. or PHIVIDEC, a government-owned and controlled corporation.

The raid resulted in the arrest of 69 allegedly undocumented Chinese workers and a Filipino employee.

In a statement, Sanjia Steel described the raid as a “manufactured crisis driven by unverified allegations, sensationalism and corporate sabotage.”

Company officials accused authorities of transforming what they described as a routine regulatory review into an “aggressive public spectacle that disrupted legitimate industrial operations and endangered the livelihood of hundreds of Filipino workers.”

Authorities alleged that the P800-million plant was engaged in hazardous industrial activities, producing substandard steel products and has links to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operations.

Sanjia Steel said the use of search warrants and mass detention of workers were excessive, improper and questionable, noting the issues raised by investigators involved administrative and regulatory concerns, and not criminal offenses.

“These alleged infractions fall strictly under the regulatory supervision of civilian agencies. Legitimate compliance issues are ordinarily addressed through a notice of violation process, and not by serving criminal search warrants, shutting down an industrial complex and detaining technical personnel,” Chu said.

Sanjia Steel officials criticized authorities for publicly accusing the facility of manufacturing substandard steel products despite the absence of representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Philippine Standards.

They said the DTI-BPS is the agency authorized to conduct product-standard testing.

Sanjia Steel maintained that its products meet all engineering and dimensional standards.