Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso on August 20,2019, ordered the closure of several Chinese-owned establishments in Binondo, selling beauty and health products with a label that claimed that it was from Manila, a Province of China, yet was actually manufactured in Mainland China.
This was due to a lot of complaints recieved by the Manila City Bureau of Permits and Licensing Office regarding that particular labeling. The businesses that sells these products were traced in Sto. Cristo in Binondo, known as Manila’s Chinatown.
Upon closed inspection, aside from the claim that it is from "Manila, province of China", the products were lacking crucial product registrations. The confiscated products will be sent to the Philippine Food and Drug Administration for further analysis and verification.
This is not the first time that our city or our country was tagged as “a province of China.” Netizens have discovered a geotag in several social media posts. Also, during the time Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte softens his stance on China, tarpaulins were found hanging on several overpasses in Manila bearing the prints “Welcome to the Philippines, Province of China”.
Is this some sort of a "psy-war" or "testing" public sentiments toward Beijing? The Philippine still have a territorial dispute over the West Philippine Sea, even after we won the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016.
Or it is done by Chinese businessmen and their Filipino partners to profit from the Philippine government's more friendly relationship towards Beijing.
In my opinion, More and more Mainland Chinese businessmen become embolden with the friendly state of relation between the two countries yet they see the Philippines and its citizens as inferior. But what do you think? Share your thoughts at the comment section below.
