SAY MARIKINA and one of the first things that comes to mind is shoes. It’s no secret that Marikina-made shoes are of good quality. Former First Lady Imelda Marcos has thousands of them, as can be seen from the shoe museum in the city. Marikina is the shoe capital of the Philippines.
The shoe industry in Marikina was said to have started in 1887 by Don Laureano Guevara, also known as Kapitan Moy. According to the Marikina city government website (http://www.marikina.gov.ph/PAGES/history2.htm), Kapitan Moy bought a pair of imported shoes and asked his workmen to duplicate them. Soon, many other residents learned shoemaking and the rest is history.
The website also says that as of 1983, 70 percent of shoe production in the country can be traced to Marikina. Shoes from Marikina have also penetrated the foreign markets.
Due to globalization and the cheap imports coming in from abroad, though, the production of shoes in Marikina has been affected. But the government and private sector have been working to uplift the industry.
Jenny Legarda, one of the co-owners of Teal Shoes and Bags, and a shoe factory owner in the city, says Marikina-made shoes are of good quality and can be at par with imported ones. “It’s just a matter of teaching shoemakers to do it properly. It’s a skill you have to acquire,” she says.
The problem she sees, now, however, is the declining interest in shoemaking among the young people. “The young ones don’t want to go into it. Most workers are aged 50 and above,” adds Jenny.
This is a concern that must be addressed. Who will take over the aging shoemakers in Marikina? “The government should push for and support the local shoemaking industry,” says Jenny.
October 14th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
The Marikina shoe industry is not dying—it’s already dead!
The problem I believe is a bit more complicated than the “declining interest in shoemaking among the young people” nor is it simply a matter of teaching shoemakers how to make quality shoes. (As a life-long patron of Marikina shoes, I can definitely assure you that Marikina-made shoes are of the highest quality.)
The problem lies with lack of sincere support from the government and from the retail sector, resulting in lukewarm support from the shoe-buying public.
How can quality Marikina-made shoes possibly compete with shoes imported from China with custom duties priced unbelievably low right under the noses of our custom officials? And if the government could not mount a credible campaign against smuggling of manufactured goods like shoes, how can we expect local shoe manufacturers to even compete?
And Marikina-made shoes indeed could compete with the best of them. Marikina-made shoes had competed—and won—in many an international shoe design competition.
Yes, there could be a niche for handcrafted shoes. And let’s face it: at this time we can’t go head-to-head with China on the mass production front like what Mr. Jun Limdap is saying. Sure, many giant local shoe manufacturers had modern shoe manufacturing machines but none had the level of mass-production as China’s. Also, you have to consider that most shoe manufacturers are small- and micro entrepreneurs; and investing in capital-intensive machines is simply out of the question.
Then we also have this giant Super Mall chain that on one hand, directly imports China-made shoes (branding it as theirs) and on the other directly curtails the sale of locally-made products by imposing rigorous and seemingly insurmountable hurdles for small shoe manufacturers (from documentation to large discounts to forced consignment instead of outright sale).
Lastly, if we want to help, then be aware: the next pair of shoes you buy should be locally-made. A proudly Marikina-made pair of shoes.
And tell others about it.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I think a big key to the fate of the Marikina shoemaking business would be modernization. Handcrafting shoes should be reserved for custom-made and luxury items — but mass produced shoes should slowly be shifted to shoemaking machines. This is the only way that Marikina can compete with foreign manufacturers, as well as retain interest among the youth