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Script by Ma. Bea Patricia Cruz

Culture in a shoebox

When the Marcos dictatorship was ousted after the 1986 EDSA revolution, the Marcos family

left the Philippines along with a lot of their prized possessions, including Imeldas world-famousshoe stash. A huge portion of the former First Ladys 3,000-pair collection was transferred to the

National Museum in Manila for safekeeping. However, flooding, termites, and long years of

storage have rendered the possessions damaged.

Fortunately, though, a part of the legendary collection remains preserved in a museum in the

countrys shoe town the Marikina Shoe Museum.

Not a lot of Filipinos are aware of the existence of this relatively young museum. The Shoe

Museum, brainchild of then-Marikina Mayor Bayani F. Fernando, was completed and opened to

the public on February 16, 2001. It was originally called the Footwear Museum of Marikina.

Marikinas prime industry began in 1887 through the ingenuity of Don Laureano Guevarra,

known locally as Kapitan Moy. Kapitan Moys old house served as his own tiny shoe factory, the

first in the country. It has now been turned into the Sentrong Pangkultura ng Marikina, with a

Filipino-themed restaurant named after the pioneer shoemaker.

The small, shoebox-like museum features three collections: winning designs in some of the citys

shoe designing competitions, shoes worn by prominent political and media personalities, and 749

pairs of expensive and bedazzling footwear straight from the wardrobe of the former First Lady

and certified shoeholic Imelda Marcos.

Apart from the stunning shoe displays, the museum introduces visitors to the intricate art that

catapulted Marikina into worldwide fame. Here, the legacy of Kapitan Moys historic process of

shoemaking is immortalized along with olden tools, molds, and different animal skins used by

the first Marikina shoemakers.

But beneath shelves after shelves of cherished footwear lies the core value of the Shoe Museum

it embodies the creativity and burning passion for craft-making not only of Marikenos, but of

all Filipinos. Marikinas culture is embedded in every pair of shoes that it produces, and the Shoe

Museum takes care of the task of making sure this culture will traverse more generations.

Unfortunately, due to recent disasters such as typhoon Ondoy and Habagat, maintenance of the

museum in the highly flood-prone city has become a more tedious task. Moreover, insufficient

publicity has been hindering the gallerys break into the elite ranks of the top cultural attractions

in the metro. The management noticed that while the museum enjoys a considerable number of

visitors annually, the figures do not go up.

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The government of Marikina hopes that more tourists, especially Filipinos from other parts of the

country, get the chance to witness one of the oldest Filipino trades that is continuously helping

the country carve its own niche in the international scene.

The cultural shoebox of Marikina is just waiting.