Don't go overboard on that Chinese hair product, get even

Seized by righteous indignation and nationalistic fervor, Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno swiftly padlocked a beauty products store in Binondo and sought the deportation of two of its five owners who are Chinese nationals. It is not clear what he wants to do with the establishment's three Filipino owners. One thing is certain though, the store will not be able to reopen under Moreno's watch.

So what's with the store? What did it do to earn the ire of so many Filipinos and the inordinately swift reaction of government? Apparently the store, Elegant Fumes Beauty Products, has been selling a hair product in its inventory whose label misrepresented Manila as being a province of China. The complete address on the label reads: "1st flr. 707 Sto Cristo St. San Nicolas, Manila Province, P.R. China.”

There is no argument that on the label, the City of Manila was categorically passed off as a province of China. There is no argument either that the misrepresentation requires a protest and a demand for rectification, perhaps even an apology. But noting our tendency toward emotional fragility and how we can easily go overboard over the smallest of things, a label in this case, let us take a few moments to consider a few things.

First of all, it is clear the product in question was made in China. On the offending label just before the company name are the words: Manufactured for. And right after the numbered address was given are the words "MADE IN P.R.C." Obviously, Elegant Fumes is just a beauty products distributor and not a manufacturer. Its products, including the offending one, are made for it by someone else in China. Did Beijing have a hand in its making?

Yes, a protest needs to be made, not just by the City of Manila and enraged citizens, but by the highest levels of government like the Department of Foreign Affairs. A demand for the erroneous label to be taken down must be pursued. And as far as applicable, all appropriate charges must be filed for what violations may have been committed. In a word, the incident must not be ignored and allowed to pass.

But here's where we do not go overboard. A determination has to be made whether the misrepresentation was deliberate, or worse, an official provocation, or was just the result of some honest private level mistake. I am sure most of us have experienced just how atrocious Chinese literature and product information can be on labels and brochures. It is entirely possible things went awry simply because the Chinese can't say it well.

Still it is difficult to imagine how any private Chinese entrepreneur, no matter how impaired in English communications skills, can mistake the capital city of a foreign country as a Chinese province unless some mischief was afoot. It could be that some overzealous manufacturer wanted to unilaterally push his government's mistaken and misguided expansionist narrative to its most sordid limits.

In which case we still don't need to go overboard. We can instead mobilize our own country's hordes of idle trolls, from every side of the political fence, to bombard China with what we are so good at and have plenty of --memes and other wisecracks that are funny, easy to understand, and most of all, pick Chinese pride. Xi Jinping can be portrayed as Winnie the Pooh using the same offending product, waving gleefully the Philippine flag.