The President at Bulong / Ohrelle turns 25

Thanks to her closeness to the late President Cory Aquino, former trusted press undersecretary and co-founder of Bulong Pulungan, Deedee Siytangco was able to invite President Noynoy Aquino to the media forum’s second Christmas Party. As we all know, the President is a very busy person, and having him squeeze a Christmas lunch into his tight schedule is possibly the best Christmas gift one can receive. Accompanying him was his adviser, Secretary Sonny Coloma, giving life to the oft-repeated saying which we paraphrase, “If the President is here, can’t Secretary Coloma be far behind?”

The President, said to feel some discomfort with media, allowed himself to be grilled at the forum, with questions ranging from the light to the serious. He said his Christmas wishes for former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was for her to help the present administration clean up and institute reforms, for Chief Justice Renato Corona to “revisit the oath that we all in government have to undertake and remember exactly to whom he made the promise to and what was promised,” and for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government to have a meeting of the minds.

For a light question, as what his dream car is, the President, who got singed when he bought a second-hand Porsche months ago, said he would rather wait till after his term ends before he gets the car of his dream. If I am correct, his giving up of the vehicle was the first time he listened to critics’ opinion that he should not have in possession such an expensive vehicle. Personally I thought the President had all the right to drive around in a Porsche, which he bought with his own money.

When asked about his love life and poverty, he said, “They’re the same.”

Asked what he thought about the proposal to change the name of historic avenue Edsa (or Epifanio de los Santos Avenue) to Cory Aquino Avenue, the President replied tersely: “It’s not necessary.” That should be a lesson to those who, perhaps unwittingly, appear to want to please the President by suggesting controversial measures. Edsa is a historic name, and must be retained, even as the late President Cory Aquino, with or without an avenue renamed in her honor, is an icon to be remembered forever.

 That the President finds time to be with the media is a good thing. The Bulong Pulungan circle is fortunate to have Deedee as its founder, otherwise having the President come over, would have been just a dream car waiting to be bought in 2017.

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A big event last Saturday was the blessing and dedication of the new Ohrelle shop on the upper ground floor (Main Building) at SM City, North Edsa, Quezon City. Days earlier, Ohrelle was given a Pioneer Tenants Award at the Mall of Asia, and later, in another ceremony at SM Marikina, in collaboration with the local government, was cited as one of the staunchest supporters of the Marikina shoe industry. The proud owner of Ohrelle, the stylish Linda Salonga-Pastoral, beams as she says, “We have been selling only made-in-Marikina shoes. Indeed, we are extremely proud of supporting the local shoe industry for the past 40 years.”

At the inauguration, sponsors were Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, Consul Mellie Ablaza, Tessa Prieto Valdez and Architect Rene Bacani (representing SM City’s Tessie Sy Coson). In her touching remarks, Linda dedicated the shop to God. “Everything,” she said, “comes from Him.”

Ohrelle’s story may be said to have begun in the sixties when Linda traveled a lot especially to New York City to buy textiles for her family’s business that supplied manufacturers in the garments industry. In one of her shopping sprees, a name caught her fancy, and she promised to herself she would use it when she put up her own business “at the time when import controls were being imposed to conserve our country’s meager dollar reserves and to encourage local industries. Imposed non-essential commodities were banned or slapped prohibitive taxes. Textiles and shoes were among those considered non-essentials.”

The opportunity came for her to develop a local shoe brand that will not only be stylish and comfortable as the imported ones, but affordable as well. Thus, Ohrelle, her dream brand name, was born.

With the technical help of her late husband Ben, a doctor by profession, and her knowledge of business, both academic and actual (she has a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, and a master’s degree in business management at the University of the Philippines), she put up her first shop on Taft avenue, Manila. Her first customers were students from Philippine Women’s University and colegialas from nearby St. Paul’s College, Assumption College, and St. Scholastica’s College. Soon the girls were bringing their friends and relatives to her shop. In a short time, Ohrelle branched out to different malls, and in 1986, in spite of the financial crisis then, she set up a boutique at SM City, North Edsa, to capture the growing market north of Manila.

Ohrelle is a success story, for sure, but Linda expresses her displeasure and that of her peers about the shoe industry’s “struggling against the onslaught of footwear from China which the customers themselves attest to as ‘cheap but with very limited durability.’ We once got a pleasant shock when a customer came to our boutique to have the heels of her shoes repaired — she had bought the footwear from Ohrelle 20 years earlier. She loved it, she said, and would not part with it. It’s a wonder that our shoes are still alive after two decades! If that’s what our customers say about us, then our shoes are durable and “magaan” (light).

Linda, a fashionista herself, attends trade shows and shoe fairs abroad, as these showcase styles for the coming season. “We bring in actual samples and pictures of shoes to show shoe suppliers whom we have helped grow in producing quality comfortable and stylish shoes. We and our suppliers also constantly consult famous shoe websites in the internet so that we are always abreast of trends and styles abroad. We innovate styles that we think are ”bagay” (suited) to the modern Filipina’s taste and preferences.            

Ohrelle has stand-alone shops at the SM City at North Edsa, and in Makati, and at the Cash and Carry Mall at Filmore Avenue.

“Our marketing strategy is to go inside department stores where exposure is greater. We have outlets at the Landmark in Trinoma, Landmark in Makati, Shoe Center in Ali Mall, Robinson’s Galleria in Ermita, Manila, and at the Market, Market at Global City in Taguig.”

Linda says, “While I am still a hands-on entrepreneur, I am grooming my daughter Joy Moreno to take over. My son, Benjamin Jr., is our IT consultant. The other children, Phillip and Monette, have at one time or another, helped in the business until they put up their own business.”

“We plan to go countryside through the department store network. We realize our original customers have produced second and even third generation offpsring that is why we have developed a more avant garde collection  for the more youthful and playful crowd. Called ‘Jholie by Ohrelle,’ this collection is of the same quality as Ohrelle shoes which are known for comfort and style.”

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