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.

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.

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

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