House forms group to revive Marikina footwear industry

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has created a technical working group (TWG) to firm up proposed measures to revive the Marikina footwear industry.

In a hearing, the House special committee on creative industry and performing arts, chaired by Pangasinan Rep. Christopher de Venecia, formed the TWG for bills that seek to “strengthen the Philippine footwear, leather goods, and tannery industries and provide incentives and funds” for them.

Marikina’s core industry, which has been present as early as 1887, “suffers from a lack of an enabling policy environment which could take this industry to greater heights,” De Venecia said.

The biggest issues are the sector’s lack of access to technology and the general lack of capital for micro, small and medium-scale footwear businesses to operate and expand, he added.

De Venecia said “it is high time to pass measures that would make the country’s footwear, leather goods and tannery industries competitive and a step ahead.”

In her sponsorship speech for House Bill 491, Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo underscored that footwear, leather goods and tannery industries are vital parts of the Philippine economy and have enormous economic potential.

“The local industry boomed in the 1970s, and we were exporting snake-skin shoes to New York and other cities in the United States. That’s how famous Marikina shoes were,” she noted.

HB 491, or the Philippine Footwear, Leather Goods, and Tannery Industries Development Act of 2022, promotes and supports the growth of the industry.

“We need to promote import substitution, meaning domestic firms should be able to produce and compete against what we frequently import and eventually export to the world market. This is the economic philosophy behind this bill,” she added.

The measure requires government offices to source their footwear, leather goods, and tannery product requirements from local manufacturers.