CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 4 June 2026) – Experts have detected radioactive isotopes — Uranium-238, Thorium-228, and Thorium-232 — in imported scrap metals used by Philippine Sanjia Steel Corporation to manufacture steel rebars at its plant in Barangay Baluarte, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Philippine Nuclear Research Institute researcher Teresa Salamat said they detected Thorium and Uranium in mounds of scrap metal believed to have been imported from China to manufacture steel rebars.
Salamat said they also found traces of the radioactive materials in the entire manufacturing process and the millions of finished steel bars at Sanjia’s 27-hectare facility.
She noted that two similar factories in Bulacan and Pampanga were previously shut down after hazardous radioactive isotopes were discovered in their production lines.
“Sanjia uses the same outdated manufacturing process as the Bulacan and Pampanga factories that were also shut down,” she said.
The Bureau of Philippine Standards said that aside from the hazardous materials, they found the rebars and other steel products made at Sanjia’s facility in Barangay Baluarte substandard and “structurally risky.”
Sanjia’s counsel and spokesperson Atty. Julia Chu denied allegations that the company used contaminated and illegal nuclear wastes from China, saying their raw materials are fully certified to be coming from Japan.
The plant was previously owned by Tony Yang, the brother of Michael Yang, an alleged drug lord who served as an economic adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Tony Yang is currently detained at the Cagayan de Oro City Jail in Brangay Lumbia after he was transferred here for allegedly falsifying public documents to conceal his Chinese nationality.
The discovery of radioactive isotopes prompted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to cancel the company’s Environmental Compliance Certificate and issue a cease-and-desist order, shutting down its smelting plant.
DENR Region 10 Director Nollto Eneran said the cease-and-desist order they have issued against Sanjia would halt their operations.
Eneran said they also fined the corporation P450,000 for administrative violations.
The Department of Health Region 10 will conduct medical checkups today for over 300 local Sanjia employees in Tagoloan to determine if they have been affected by the hazardous materials.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro noted that many local employees were working without radiation protective suits, unaware of the dangerous environment.
Teodoro arrived here Wednesday along with other government agencies to give an update on the investigation of Sanjia. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)
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