Solon seeks blacklisting of Chinese beauty product for listing Manila as 'province of China'

PBA party-list Representative Jericho Nograles has called on authorities to investigate and blacklist the Chinese beauty product distributed locally after it listed its Manila address as a "province" of China.

Nograles has sent letters to the Department of Trade and Industry and the Food and Drug Administration to complain about Chinese hair care product Ashley Shine Keratin Treatment Deep Repair that labeled its address in Binondo, Manila as a "province of the People’s Republic of China."

The said product is imported and distributed by a company in Binondo owned by a Chinese national, according to Nograles.

"Any act to undermine our sovereignty must be taken seriously. It is in this light that we respectfully ask your Office to immediately investigate this detestable and repulsive offense against our nation, and, if legally justified, prohibit the continued distribution of these products in our country,” he said in his letters.

Nograles said that based on information his office received, the product was manufactured in 2018 and is still being distributed nationwide.

“Succeeding batches of this product already omitted the declaration, but the offense remains the same,” he said.

Nograles believes that the mislabeling of the product could have been deliberate as it was "hard to dismiss this insult as a simple error."

“The label clearly shows Manila, as a province of China. This incident must be investigated at the very least, and the manufacturer and importer should be blacklisted, as soon as legally permitted," he said.

This incident should also push lawmakers to come up with a measure that would penalize mislabeling on consumer goods.

A similar incident occurred back in July 2018 when red banners bearing the message "Welcome to the Philippines, Province of China" were spotted hanging on several pedestrian overpasses in time for the second anniversary of the Philippines' sweeping victory against China in the arbitration case involving the disputed South China Sea.

Malacañang had dismissed this incident as a handiwork of opponents of the government, with presidential spokesperson Harry Roque calling them “crazy” and “traitors.” —KBK, GMA News