I’ve had three different Acuras over 12 years and they all used the same Honda filter and they all have been tightly shrink wrapped individually. It might be a little hard but with the course threads to screw it on, I think it could be done with the plastic still on. True it would puncture the center but the small holes would be plugged. I would think it would leak a little too since the gasket wouldn’t seal very well. I assume the large hole is the inlet and the small ones are the exit from the filter. I can’t think of any other way you’d get plastic in the engine though, but those filters are tightly wrapped, so much so that you have to be careful with a knife that you don’t damage the gasket. Yeah someone needs to help the OP get to the bottom of it. Like always sometimes the story changes over time.
Maybe Honda will be forced to print “remove before installation” in two or three languages before all is said and done.