The Tired Hands Behind Iconic Shoes: Mariqueño shoemakers and their plight
Get to know more about the shoemakers who make Marikina made shoes—and the conditions they work under.
WRITTEN BY WILLIANE TOBIAS
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The environment is cramped and dusty. Our group enters a small, informal space dedicated to shoemaking, with the shoemakers hard at work, surrounded by piles of finished shoes and raw materials. This is just one of the environments shoemakers work in–with the lack of regulations, differing quality of equipment and lack of government support, this is the reality of Marikina shoemakers in the present.
Putting ourselves in their shoes
“Yung trabaho na to sa mga walang pinag-aralan talaga sa mga hindi nakatapos (This job is for those weren’t able to finish school)” shoemaker Bong Bermudez says, when asked why he thinks younger generations don’t take up shoemaking. There isn’t a sense of pride when describing their work–in fact, Bong did not teach the craft of shoemaking to his children, saying “mahirap na, bukod dyan maliit na ang sweldo.”
The wage of shoemakers goes below the minimum wage. In an article written by The Guidon, they quoted Clarrisa Badong, a consultant for the Marikina Shoe Industry Office. Some workers were estimated to have a daily wage as low as Php 150, not only that, but bonus payments are also below the average.
Bermudez shared how a number of them shifted to construction for better pay, stating “Alam niyo ba kung saan sila nakakaalam? Construction. Karamihan. Kasi yun talaga medyo walang kasweldo. Kasi kwan sila. Yung sinatawag na minimum wage. (You know where they shift to? Construction. Most of them. Because there’s not much earnings here, the so called minimum wage)” Kuya Ray, who works on shoe repair, mentions how their wage is enough to provide food three times a day–and for them, that’s enough, even if it goes below the supposed minimum salary.
In our focus group discussion, former shoemaker Archie Hernandez shared his insights on the hardships he faced “Ang shoe mart ho no’n, […] pagka kami nakapag deliver ho do’n ng sapatos ah… less 5 percent ‘to yung cheke binabayad sa amin… ah ‘di parang binayaran nga ho lahat ho ‘yan eh (The shoe mart before, when we were the ones delivering our shoes, the check they paid us was less than 5%, it’s like they didn’t pay everything)” showing how unfair pay within the industry isn’t just a recent phenomenon, but was faced before by those who are no longer in the industry today.
Previous studies from 2004 and 2014 have pointed out that registered shoe manufacturers in Marikina have been in decline since the turn of the 21st century. According to a 2005 study and article by Allen J. Scott, The shoe industry of Marikina City, Philippines: A developing-country cluster in crisis, the number of registered manufacturers went from 513 to 248 over the span of ten years from 1994 to 2004. An undergraduate thesis titled ‘Factors affecting the exit of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Marikina footwear industry’ by Neill John G. Macuha saw the registered manufacturers drop to 161 in 2014. The most recent number comes from an article written by Iya Gozum that states around 200 shoe manufacturers and retailers were registered as of March 2025.
Lacking support during the pandemic and beyond
The pandemic affected most industries, with shoemaking being one of them. Sir Noel Box gave a glimpse into how drastic its effects were on the industry “nung COVID-19, masasabi natin na malaki yung effect kasi almost, siguro mga 80% of our footwear and leather goods was closed. Nag-closed daw sila dahil nga walang client. So, malaki yung naging effect kasi, ah, kumbaga hindi gumagalaw (During COVID-19, we can say that the effect it had was big, around 80% of our footwear and leather goods were closed. They closed because they didn’t have clients. So the effect was big, so to speak, it wasn’t moving.)”
It’s not just economical damage however but a period of hardship for shoemakers who cannot work at their factories. Shoemaker Christopher Jessie shared what it was like under the pandemic. “Super affected yung market. Kasi nga, since hindi naman nakakalabas, tapos walang production, kasi nga bawal pa pumasok. So, sobrang laking efekto niya sa mga manufacturing. (The market was affected, because since you can’t go outside and there was no production because it’s not allowed to go to work. It had a big effect on manufacturing.)”
Bermudez explained how there was no government support, and how it was the business owner who helped them get through the pandemic “Sa amin wala. Kasi kami dumaan ng pandemic, ang nagbigay sa amin mismo yung may-ari nito. Naabutang kami ng pagbigas-bigas. Pero yung tungkol sa gobyerno wala eh. Katulad ng ayuda, buti pa nga yung mga magta-tricycle driver may ayuda, kami wala. Totally wala. (For us, nothing. As the pandemic passed, aid was given by the owner of the business, but when it comes to the government they did not provide. Tricycle drivers have it better, they had aid and we did not)”
This mirrors how most of the shoemakers we interviewed were not aware of the law and policy surrounding shoemaking. For those who knew, they cite how it had little effect on the business, take for example shoemaker Ronaldo Lopez who mentions that government help was still lacking “Kaya lang, kasi ang pagtulong nila, may bayad din. May bayad. Gumagawa sila ng bazaar, pero kailangan namin magbayad. So, hindi na kami nagpaparticipate sa ganyan. (Despite this, their help comes at a price. They set up bazaars, but we still need to pay them to join. So we don’t participate in those.)” Opportunities such as the bazaar are a chance for businesses to market themselves to more people, but a paywall hinders those who do not have the budget.
Making their voices heard
Christopher Jessie, the youngest shoemaker we interviewed, says how important it is to market Marikina made shoes not just locally but internationally. “Feeling ko naman, dapat both eh. Kasi since tinatanggilik na nga yung mga imported dito, feeling ko dapat kailangan na din natin mag-market sa ibang bansa. At mas palakasin yung market dito sa locally, Philippines. (I feel it should be both. Since we are proud of imported products here, we should market to other countries and strengthen the market here locally)”
Initiatives from the government must also be accessible to all types of businesses, not just those who are well established. While fiscal policies like tax exemptions help at the moment, there needs to be support in terms of marketing and getting their products out there. For Ronaldo Lopez, he talks about his ideal form of government help “Kailangan lang ng support ng government talaga. Like, ganyan, gumawa sila ng bazaar na libre, kahit ano, ma-promote lang yung ano, may isang lugar sila na paglalagyan ng mga sapatos na dadayuhan talaga ng iba’t ibang lugar (What’s needed really is the support of the government. Like making bazaars free, or having one space where we can distribute our shoes that people from other places will really visit)”
Archie Hernandez also believes that the LGU must help in creating more projects shoemakers can take part in “Ang nakikita namin para mabuhay uli ang sapatos o rito sa Marikina, ang talagang nakakatulong sa amin yung LGU. Katulad nunong di ba, yung mga bata binibigyan ng mga sapatos, ng mga mayor, di ba, babae, lalake. Paano kong yan lahat dito nang pagawa rito sa amin sa Marikina. Palagay ko buhay uli ang industriya ng sapatos o namin dito (What will revive the shoes in Marikina is the help from the LGU. Just like before, the children were given shoes by the mayor, right, girls and boys. What if all those projects sourced shoes made here in Marikina? In my opinion, that will revive the industry here)”
For these shoemakers, government support remains lacking. From their low wages to lack of marketing, there is no pride in being a shoemaker for these people–only struggle and a job that keeps them afloat. With Marikina’s proud legacy as the shoe capital, more should be done for the people who helped build that legacy.
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