Story Behind the Shoes

     

     My friend went to the DFA at Macapagal Avenue to renew her passport. Outside the DFA office, she was greeted by two guys, one was trying to sell her a pen and another one trying to sell her a brown envelope. Both vendors were trying to convince her that both items were needed for her passport renewal. She managed to wriggle free from them despite their varied persuasion tactics.  Scott free! Or so she thought. 

     Just before entering the building, another person (official looking with matching ID) stopped her and pointed to her sandals. "There's a dresscode at the DFA, they won't allow you in if you're not wearing shoes," the man authoritatively said in Filipino. My friend looked at the long line inside the DFA and said "Oh no, where's the nearest place to buy shoes here?" The guy pointed at SM Mall of Asia, "there" he said, then whispered "...but there's a person there at the corner selling cheap shoes, pray he has your size." To make the story short, my friend was forced to buy a pair of plastic shoes for 100 pesos. 

     Relieved, she walked inside the DFA office, and sat down to wait for her number to be called. She then looked around and was surprised to see a lot of people there wearing slippers and sandals! Well, at least she didn't buy the 20-peso pen and brown envelope that went with the shoes.

Missing Robredo and his "Tsinelas" brand of Leadership

     Robredo was twice reelected by his constituents, who spoke fondly of their mayor as truly one of them, who told stories of his unaffected ways and how he walked around his city without the customary trappings of power in slippers often, and who recalled that just as often he rose with the sun and, finding the opportunity, would think nothing of taking hold of a broom and sweeping parts of a street clean. Then Energy Secretary Rene Almendras, in his tribute to Robredo, called it “tsinelas brand of leadership.” click here for the full article >>>

 

Loren Calls for Greater Support for Marikina Shoe Industry

     Senator Loren Legarda has called for greater promotion of the shoe industry in Marikina City, stressing that funding and technological support should be provided to give the industry the needed boost.

     Legarda, great grand niece of Kapitan Moy Guevarra who started the shoe industry in Marikina, made the statement after her recent visit to Marikina City, known as the Shoe Capital of the Philippines.

     "The shoes made in Marikina are of good quality but the lack of support, especially by way of patronizing and marketing the products, has decreased the demand for these locally-made footwear," she said. 

full story here >> >

Shoes from China spells death to the local shoe-industry

MARIKINA CITY - In a bid to revive the local shoe industry, the Association of Filipinos in Footwear Industries, composed of more than a hundred Filipinos engaged in shoe industry all over the world, vowed to strengthen the Filipino shoe manufacturers and businesses in Marikina.

Juliet Bautista, Nike operations director in China, said the Association's mission is "to serve as a unifying force among all Filipinos in the footwear industries outside and inside the of the Philippines so that we can maintain our competitive advantage in the international arena and sustain this in the next generation of Filipinos to come."

According to Bautista, what the country needs is "innovation." She cited that the country will not be able to cope with global competition if there is no improvement, stressing, "no innovation and they will die."

Identifying the causes of the country's stagnation, Wolverine Worldwide Jojo Dancel rued the lack of support industries in the country.

Dancel said that imported shoes from China swamp the country and local shoes cannot compete.

"To compete with cheap China-made shoes, we sacrifice the quality of our local shoes para lang mabenta (just to make it marketable) but actually nawawala ang integrity in sapatos (the shoe loses its integrity)," he lamented.

full article here >>>

This is a documentary
by GMA Network's Jessica Soho
tackling this issue

video courtesy of GMA Network and Jessica Soho

Liliw's Tsinelas Festival

LILIW, Laguna -- Slippers can never go out of fashion, whatever season it is. One can find the some of the nicest collection of trendy slippers and shoes, not in the malls but in a small, warm town in Laguna called Liliw, a three-hour drive from Manila.

Surprisingly, although Liliw has been quietly into the footwear industry for almost 50 years now, it was only three years ago when the Liliw Tourism Council made it formal to mark an annual "Liliw Gat Tayaw Tsinelas Festival" for the town. Through the festival, the council hopes to boost local tourism; have a vibrant industry which in return, will help the town improve economically.

The footwear industry in this part of the province is a sought-after attraction especially by local tourists. Liliw is now known as the "Footwear Capital of Laguna" and people all over Metro Manila are going all the way down South to check out the latest designs in slip-ons, sandals and slippers.

Thanks to the first festival and all the attention it had then, businessmen and plain customers are mostly returnees going ga-ga over the thriving town of Liliw, especially during summer and Christmas seasons.

At recently "Liliw Gat Tayaw Tsinelas Festival", store owners admitted that the sales escalated due to the festival. With the help of print media and television, curious travelers troop to Liliw just to see what the town had to offer.

Read full article here >>>

Unang Hirit's Coverage of Liliw's 2008 Tsinelas Festival
video courtesy of Unang Hirit, GMA Network

Sapin sa Paa na gawang Laguna

Hindi lang sa Liliw, Laguna mabibili ang magagara at
matitibay na tsinelas, sandalyas at sapatos dahil maging
sa Pagsanjan ay meron din!

Lifted from Unang Hirit's "Only In The Philippines" segment
(GMA-7 12.10.2003).
Producer, writer, offline editor: John Lumabas
Cameraman: Toto Romano
Online Editor: Juden Casidsid

Ang Tibay Talaga ng Ang Tibay

Ang Tibay`s Branches in Manila (Map from Dimasalang Kalendaryong Tagalog)

ANG TIBAY. Ang mapaggawa ng mga sinelas, kotso, zapatilya at sapatos na pang BAGONG TAON at Pangmatagalang Panahón. (We make shoes for the new year that will practically last forever!)

ANG TIBAY. Ang iginaganda ng mga sinelas, kotso, zapatilya at sapatos na gawa sa Pagawaáng ito, pagka't mga sunod sa USO at MODA na sadyang pang mahal na Araw. (We have up-to-date styles, look your best on your special days!)

ANG TIBAY. Ang Sinelasan at sapatusan, gumagawa ng mga sinelas, kotso, zapatilya at sapatos na malamig sa paa, lalo na sa ganitong taginit. (We make shoes that are cool on the feet specially in this heat!)

ANG TIBAY. Ang mga sinelas, kotso, zapatilya at sapatos sa pagawaang ito, ay siyang mainam na pang Antipolo, pagka't magagara, panbundok at panlaban sa lupang malagkit. (We make shoes that are best for going up Antipolo - stylish, mountain-bred, built for muddy terrain!)

ANG TIBAY. Ang unang Sinelasan at Sapatusang pinarisan ng iba sa nagkukumpuni kung nasira ang kanyang mga yari, na walang bayad kailan ma't maaaring kumpunihin pa. (As long as your shoes are still repairable, we'll mend them for free!)

Emilio Aguinaldo's Ang Tibay Shoes on display at Kawit Cavite

ANG TIBAY. Ang tanging Sinelasan at Sapatusan na naglilinkod at dumadayo sa bahay ng nagpapagawa, (sa Maynila lamang) kailan ma't tawagin sa telepono ó sa sulat upang sukatan ang kanilang mga paa. (We measure your shoe-size right in your living room!)

ANG TIBAY. Magpahanda na kayo ng inyong sinelas, kotso, sapatilya sapatos ó botitos na pamasko na makakabagay ng bago ninyong terno ó trahe. (We make shoes that will best match your wardrobe!)

This series of ANG TIBAY ads appeared in Honorio Lopez' Dimasalang Kalendariong Tagalog in 1922. Sorry for the translations, sometimes I get a bit carried away.

Footwear and the Church

"Houag bobonotin ang paa sa chapin, sapagca,t, isang casalaulaan. At sa iyo, Feliza, ang huli cong bilin, ay houag mong bobonotin sa simbahan at saan man ang paa sa chinelas, at pagpilitan mong matacpan nang saya, sapagca,t, ga nacamumuhi sa malinis na mata ang ipaquita." (Do not pull your foot out of your slipper because it isn't proper. And to you Feliza, I remind for the last time, do not pull your foot out of your slippers inside the church or anywhere for that matter. Also try to make sure that your slippers remain hidden under your skirt, people might find that improper as well)

"Ang lalaqui o babaye na cun lumalacad sa simbahan, ay di nagdarahan, ang tulin ay di hamac at cun nagchichinelas ay sumasagadsad, bucod sa masamang tingnan, nacalilibang sa nagdarasal na tauo, nacapagbibigay galit at di malayo macayurac sa nan~galuluhod, ay nagpapahayag na uala sa caniyang caloob ang pagpasoc sa bahay nang Dios."(men and women who doesn't walk properly when they are inside the church - walks fast and makes this scraping noise with their slippers, distracts people who are praying. Not only do people find them irritating, they also give one the impression that they don't respect the house of God)

an excerpt from "PAG SUSULATAN NG DALAWANG BINIBINI NA SI URBANA AT FELIZA NA NAGTUTURO NG MABUTING KAUGALIAN" by Presbitero D. Modesto De Castro, 1902

"For clothing a man requires yearly--four rough shirts of guinara, costing from one to two reals; three or four pairs of trousers, at one to two and a half reals; two kerchiefs for the head, at one and a half real (hats are not worn on the south and west coasts), and for the church festivals generally one pair of shoes, seven reals; one fine shirt, a dollar or more; and fine pantaloons, at four reals. A woman requires--four to six camisas of guinara, at one real; two to three sayas of guinara, at three to four reals,and one or two sayas of European printed cotton, at five meals; two head-kerchiefs at one and a half to two reals; and one or two pairs of slippers (chinelas) to go to mass in, at two reals and upwards."

taken from "The Former Philippines thru Foreign eyes" by Fedor Jagor et at, 1816-1902

walking home from school

"His early education was handled in the private school of Maestro Cabriel of Santa Ana. His mother sought to prepare him for the priesthood, but his father's cousin Doña Carolina sent him to the Ateneo Municipal. His family, being impoverished by his father's vices, could not give the boy the luxury that other students of Spanish parentage had. Young Felipe had to walk to school barefoot and to carry his slippers under his arms, to be worn only in school". - Biography of Felipe R. Calderon on Wikipedia (Calderon is the Father of the Malolos Constitution)


“One memory he retains very well, however, was when his mother brought him to attend the first day of classes in the town’s public elementary school. “I was the only one barefoot,” says Salonga. Six years later, he remained unshod in a class photo taken of the graduating class, which a classmate gave him while he was campaigning for a congressional seat in 1961. He kept this picture to remind him of the hard times he and his family went through early on in his life."- Virgilio Galvez writing about Jovito Salonga (Jovito Salonga was a former Senate President)

When I was a kid, every time I’d nag my parents about buying me a new pair of shoes, they would always tell me that when they were kids, they’d walk to school in nothing but bakyas, and that for their entire high-school life, they only had one pair of shoes. My lola would buy them shoes that were two sizes bigger so that even if they grew, it'll still fit. Then they’d use my uncle who’s a successful businessman as an example, and tell me that my uncle walked to school barefoot so his sisters could buy bakya.

I have to admit that indeed there are many successful individuals in our society today that have had these, if not worse experiences during their childhood. But these aren't isolated cases, nor are experiences like these not happening anymore. Today, young students in the countryside still walk barefoot to school, as their impoverished families could barely feed them let alone buy them slippers or shoes. I myself didn't believe this until I went to visit one school in Laguna with the Knowledge Channel and found out that most of the children there were unshod, and that every school-day, these kids had to walk for thirty minutes just to get to school and another thirty minutes to get back home. Most of them even had to work after school so that they'd have food on the table! It’s just revolting how some politicians could stomach pocketing millions from the public coffers and turn a blind eye to such realities - just imagine how many children those millions could have helped.

Rizal and his shoes

Uploaded on December 3, 2007by [2]rokbot[2]y

"His poem [Ultimo Adios], undated and believed to be written on the day before his execution, was hidden in an alcohol stove and later handed to his family with his few remaining possessions, including the final letters and his last bequests. Within hearing of the Spanish guards he reminded his sisters in English, "There is something inside it," referring to the alcohol stove given by the Pardo de Taveras which was to be returned after his execution, thereby emphasizing the importance of the poem. This instruction was followed by another, "Look in my shoes," in which another item was secreted.

Exhumation of his remains in August, 1898, under American rule, revealed he had been uncoffined, his burial not on sanctified ground granted the 'confessed' faithful, and whatever was in his shoes had disintegrated." - Lineage, Life and Labors of José Rizal, Philippine Patriot by Austin Craig

_________

Little Jose Rizal with two Boys Originally uploaded by JhongaiL - plbv

"Naalala ko pa noon kasalukuyang kaming nakasakay sa bangka nang humulagpos ang isa kong tsinelas. Ang tsinelas ay ang gamit namin sa pagpasok at pagpunta sa mga lakaran kung saan ang bakya na gawa sa kahoy ay hindi nararapat. Mabilis itong inanod sa tubig bago ko nahabol para kunin. Malungkot ako dahil iniisip ko ang aking ina na magagalit dahil sa pagkawala ng aking tsinelas. Tiningnan ako ng nagsasagwan nang kinuha ko ang aking isa pang tsinelas at dali dali kong itinapon sa dagat, kasama ang dasal na mahabol nito ang kapares na tsinelas. "Bakit mo itinapon ang iyong isa pang tsinelas?" tanong sa akin ng kasamahan ko sa bangka.

"Isang tsinelas ang nawala sa akin at walang silbi sa makakakita. Ang isang tsinelas na nasa akin ay wala ring silbi sa akin. Kung sino man ang makakuha ng pares ng tsinelas ay magagamit niya ito sa kaniyang paglakad.

Napatingin ulit sa akin ang mama. Marahil naunawaan niya ang isang batang katulad ko." - From an Anecdote about the boy Jose Rizal

_________

"Q-Do you know Antonio Salazar?A-I know some one with the surname Salazar, who is the owner of Bazaar "Cisne", where I have my shoes made-to-order. I do not know him personally, nor if his name is Antonio. " - From the Transcipt of Rizal's Trial

Of course we now know that "Bazar El Cisne", located at the corner of what are now Carriedo and Rizal Avenue housed a Katipunan-funded printing press. It was set-up by Katipuneros from Kalibo and Capiz, Candido Iban and Francisco del Castillo, who paid for the small printing press with their winnings from a lottery. The press was later moved to Andres Bonifacio's house in Oroquieta Street near Zurbaran and nobody knew what happened to that press after that. The Bazaar's owner, Antonio Salazar on the other hand, is now remembered in Philippine history as one of the “Thirteen Martyrs of Bagumbayan.”

Was it just coincidence that of all places, Jose Rizal chose to have his shoes made at a secret Katipunan headquarters?

Jose Rizal's last path! Originally uploaded by AdamYJ

_________

And of course, here we see yet another of Rizal's
not-so-subliminal reference to shoes.
what kind of shoes are those? Why the hairy legs?
whose legs are those?

Bicol's "Grass" Slippers (Tsinelas na Abaca)

"Mamay thought hard and long about how tho augment our family income to meet our growing expenses. Tlhen one day while she was supervision our palay harvest, she thought of making abaca products.

She first wove and seved abaca slippers for her children. She sent the first crude ones to my brothers in Naga. Then she made abaca hand-bags, wallets, and belts. She experimented with the different dyes and designs and never seemed to be satisfied with waht she had made. Soon her products became objects of beauty and she began to sell them.

Then almost overnight, our house, which was quite big, became an abaca handicraft factory. Our porch became the workshop of Iluminado Fetil, a shoemaker who had worked for years at the Ang Tibay footwear factory, which made the best shoes and slippers many of them custom-built for discriminating buyers. Our sala and dining rooms were crammed full of handlooms and other equepment for weaving. One bedroom became the sewing department. Our kitchen was more oftern used for dying and drying for abaca fibers than for cooking food."

an excerpt from
A BOIENEN INVENTOR
(A history of Bicol's Tsinelas na Abaca)
by Concepcion Claveria-Bulalacao
















Image Originally Uploaded by Malou C.

The last "Limpya-botas"

"I always get my shoes shined in the Manila Airport before I leave," Dr. Ta Lin Hsu told the Makati Business Club recently, "and the one who shines my shoes has a bachelor’s degree."

Mr. Hsu, the Taiwanese chairman and founder of venture capital firm H&Q Asia Pacific, told his hosts that this "is sort of the saddest story that he has such a high-level of education, and yet the country cannot afford to give him a good job." - Boo Chanco, "College-Educated shoe-shine boy Saddens Investor"

Photograph Originally Uploaded by Dennis Villegas

They used to shine-shoes for a living

"Chief Justice Panganiban graduated with honors from Juan Luna Elementary School and Mapa High School, which are both public schools. To support his studies, he hawked newspapers, peddled cigarettes and shined shoes in the streets of Sampaloc in Manila. During his college days, he sold textbooks to his classmates and bibles to his professors and university officials. The youngest of four children, he was born from impoverished parents who died while he was still in school." - http://www.supremecourt.gov.ph/


Chief Justice Panganiban is one of the few prominent personalities who have similar humble beginnings - working as a "shoe-shine boy". The list include Victorio Soliven who owns the big real estate firm V.V.Soliven, Senator Richard Gordon and business Tycoon, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua.

Sinelas, Tsinelas, o Chinelas?

sinelas
Originally uploaded by joeypip

"What is this tsinelas, you ask? Well, they’re an indispensable part of Filipino culture. They’re basically Havaianas–rubber thong sandals (or slippers, as they’re called here)–except without the hisbiscus flowers and the exhorbitant price. Everyone who’s a Filipino has to have worn them at least once (before the Havaianas craze). When I was a kid wreaking havoc on the streets on my bike, I did it in my tsinelas. And so did my other childhood playmates. Nobody wore sneakers or anything; we just ran around and played our games in tsinelas. What’s incredibly interesting about this whole slipper fad is that two years ago, if you decided to wear tsinelas to a school like Ateneo, people would look down on you or think you were poor or something. Tsinelas are so cheap, even palengkeras and (most) street beggars can afford to wear them. Hell, before the tricycle ban in Katipunan, my school imposed a dress code on the tricycle drivers that could go in Ateneo, and one of the no-nos was–you guessed it–wearing of slippers. (So much for being “men and women for others”) Now everyone’s all “look at me, I’m so cool in my 900-peso flip-flops.” - from Lauraganism.com, "The Evolution of the Flip-flops"

Marikina Shoe Expo, Cubao

marikina
Originally uploaded by silverakshi

"Back when Cubao was a thriving shopping center during the late 70's and early 80's, Marikina Shoe Expo was a haven for good sturdy shoes. I remember the brand Gregg's which was known for making quality and affordable shoes. Now, it is a new place for artists and vintage stuff that surely is still worth coming for."

"...not content with the success of the shoe fair, many of the stallholders, led by Florinio de la Paz would occupy the New Marikina Shoe Fair on Tuason Avenue. It was initially a success. But it did not last long. After their negotiation for a lease purchase of the building with Filinvest fell through, the stallholders withdrew and joined the exodus to Cubao. One group led by Geronimo Santos (Jerome Shoes) opened the Marikina Shoe House on Aurora Blvd. in 1969. It closed down soon after it was destroyed by fire. Another group led by Pacifico Enriquez, opened Marikina Shoe Expo, across the street from Rustan's Cubao. " - Shoe History of Marikina

Syvel's, Escolta

syvel's escolta
Originally uploaded by mocortez61

"masarap mamili ng gamit dyan... sapatos, damit... lahat-lahat... madalas kaming pumunta nun sa fairmart, fair center, plaza fair, isetann at sm sa sta. cruz na carriedo na ngayon at ang sikat na syvels sa escolta..' - Rodem

"my fond memories of escolta consisted of me and my girlfriends walking (yes walking) from mendiola to escolta to buy shoes from syvels. along the way, we take several stops to browse at shops along recto and avenida, but we always ended up buying at syvel's."
- Photo Cache

Pre-War Escolta

escolta
Originally uploaded by brownpau

"You know, I like those things, so I would work doubly hard so that I will have enough money to buy me a pair of Florsheim shoes at the Escolta...kung hindi man, at least sa Besa's" - Jing Villareal's interview with Christian Espiritu


"After the war, when Makati was perhaps only a glimmer of an idea in the mind of Col. Joseph McMicking, there was the Escolta and Avenida Rizal. This was where you went to buy your shoes of "charol" [patent leather] or plain leather and the other items needed for school. " - Bambi Harper, The Original Soda Fountain, 2005

"The teams had their uniforms and they were using local made shoes, the soles are made of car tires and the top covered by canvas that were sold at the Escolta. The trade mark was Bata. Chito Calvo coach of the 1936 5th place team in the Berlin Olympic was doing business." - Lt. Col. Julian Malonso, P.A. NCCA History

The Bakya

bakya mo neneng
Originally uploaded by laz'andre

"Fashioned from light wood initially with the use of the bandsaw, bakya was afterwards smoothly shaved, and carved with floral, geometric or landscape design, then painted or varnished to a high sheen in the distinctive Paete style. Uppers made of clear plastic or thin rubber were then fastened to the sides with tiny nails ("clavitos") and the bakya was ready for export.

In its heyday (1930s to 1950s), American tourists and soldiers bought bakya as souvenirs for their girlfriends and mothers. But for Filipinos, bakya was the footwear for all seasons. You wore them in water or on land. Bakya was easy to get in and out of, which made it convenient for use by people who wore them on the ground but took them off when climbing upstairs into their houses. My mother, Laureana Cajipe, used to say that you could tell how well-mannered a person was by the way he left behind his bakya before entering the house, "Kabastusan yung iiwanan mo ang bakya mo na nakahakbang!"

When I was growing up in the early 50s, bakya shops were veritable channels of Paete culture where apprentices were trained, families worked closely together, traditional songs and poems were passed on to the young, friendships were forged and romances blossomed. Bakya was Paete's rice-and-fish. The industry that fed, clothed, and sheltered us also taught us responsibility and gave us wisdom. It nurtured our dreams and led us to believe that we would grow up to become good people, just like our parents. And Paete prospered.

- from Marie Cagahastian Pruden's "Romancing the Bakya"

Marikina Valley

Marikina Valley - S3isValley_2
Originally uploaded by Daniel Y. Go

"Marikina used to be an agricultural town. While the old folks had so much to do in the rice field and vegetable farms, majority of middle-aged and the young would readily find themselves busy and enjoying a century-old shoe making industry. It was almost a common sight to see families working together under their respective thatched roofs from early dawn to late evening busy attending to their handcrafted pairs of shoes.

Obviously, because of the nature of this cottage industry, families grew to be well-knit and clannish. Popular education, however, was limited to the "Katon Kristiyano" and to the primary and elementary grades available in a few barrio schools. A few affluent families would easily send their children to high school and college in Manila while those who had hardly enough would still need a lot a time and money to leave shoe making and take trips to and from Rizal. It was natural that a good number of boys and girls missed their secondary and tertiary schooling."

- excerpt from Roosevelt College History

Gandara (Padilla) - Ongpin intersection

Gandara (Padilla) - Ongpin intersection
Originally uploaded by wastefulspace

Gandara in Binondo used to be the "shoe capital" of pre-war Philippines. The Marikina shoe industry was just starting then and most of their finished products were bought and traded here. Chinese-owned Shoe and shoe-supply stores used to line both sides of the street and people flocked there to get themselves a bargain pair of shoes, for shoes were quite expensive at the premier shopping spot at that time which was Escolta.

Gandara - the place remains, but the shoe-shops have long been gone. Now, very few of us from the younger generation know this place's storied past as far as the country's shoe-history is concerned.

ELPO Building

The building is now home to a bank, and ELPO sneakers have long been eclipsed by global shoe-brands. Ask your parents or grandparents what rubber shoes they wore when they were young and they'd more likely say ELPO.

ELPO Building (2005)
Originally uploaded by mrbinondo