@gaysha
You are correct that logistics are an important factor and that you definitely deserve to know where the product is made. I see that your question is innocent, I guess this quote you mentioned " Nakikita ko sa Shopee na mga BIG sellers nito are from the provinces. Medyo apprehensive tuloy ako bumili." is like saying "ah because the big sellers are from the provinces, it makes me apprehensive".
When in reality, I don't really consider the manufacturing location to be the most important thing when deciding if the product is "effective" or "fake"". (It can be important, I understand) Granted, example, siguro if you see na let's say manufactured in "Davao", and the biggest seller is in "Davao", and you can clearly see that it's stated there, I think it's unfair to say na just because it's from 'the province' makes it less effective or fake. Do you understand what I'm saying?
However, if I were in your shoes, and I saw that, let's say it's even made in "big cities", example - Made in Metro Manila, then the same product then says it's made in Cebu, you have all the right to be suspicious. A suspicious product is suspicious regardless of the location, I just think it's unfair to say na "Kaya nga major products like groceries, meds, etc are manufactured and distributed in MM and in major cities nationwide." assuming that the only major products are manufactured in MM or in major cities lang. There's also the case that, "it depends on the product being sold", right?
If a product is made in Manila, and just so happens to be famous in "a province" instead, I don't see an issue with it? Unclear origins, yes. But with such lax from the FDA, I don't even know where to begin.
tl;dr:
> Just because a product is manufactured in a "big/major city" doesn't mean it can't be fake or ineffective- case in point - China
> Just because a product is manufactured in a small province, doesn't mean it's ineffective or fake - GT cosmetics - Cebu
> Yes, origin of the product is important and you deserve to know where it's from and where it should be sold
> Some products will always blatantly lie to their customers since we don't have strict regulations - regardless of where they're from,major city or province.
Just my 2 cents.