SCUTTLEBUTT

Parking hogs

There is a five-story “pay parking” building that can accommodate hundreds of vehicles for those transacting with this local government unit. However, each morning, long lines of cars and other vehicles are seen, eventually resulting in traffic snarls around and inside the city hall complex.

The culprits are a number of vehicles whose owners treat the parking spaces like their own garages. Some even have car covers, indicating that they no longer leave the parking space.

These favored scoundrels have secured the best spaces for their cars at the expense of the city hall, as if they had a stake in putting up the building — or did they?

Beware of lemon rebars

Substandard steel bars (rebars), many of which are dumped imports, have been reported in various provinces in northern Luzon after random test purchases conducted by the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute.

Government agencies are getting full support from local manufacturers, but the sale of substandard goods and the entry of cheap products into the country continue.

Private sector groups have offered the necessary information and technical know-how to support the enforcement and recall of all non-conforming and substandard steel products.

Samples from 16 hardware stores in Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya were obtained and tested for compliance with the Philippine National Standard for rebar.

Thirteen samples failed to meet the minimum standard requirements for mass variation and elongation.

These were produced by Phil Sanjia Steel Corp., Chuangxing Steel, Phil Koktai Metal, Wanchiong Steel Corp., and Teewee Steel Corp. These findings were confirmed in tests conducted by the Bureau of Philippine Standards Testing Laboratory in Cavite.

Cosmetics piracy

thrives in Taguig

Piracy is a lucrative racket, almost as big as the narcotics industry, but with one advantage: The social backlash is far less than being caught for drug trafficking.

According to the Bureau of Customs, beauty products amounting to P24.36 billion were the most smuggled goods in the country last year.

The City Government of Taguig said that nine barangays had over 20 stores selling illegal skin-whitening products containing high levels of mercury.

Thus, owners of brands are being encouraged to use 2D barcodes like QR codes to help eliminate the consumption of fake beauty products.

Pirates are being drawn to the vanity industry, which has an estimated global value of $6.47 billion.

Unlike traditional 1D or linear barcodes, supply chain solutions GS1 Philippines said 2D barcodes like QR codes enhance product traceability and transparency.

Given the benefits of 2D barcodes, GS1 aims to make cosmetics products in the Philippines compliant with the global shift to such technology by 2027.