Legarda calls for greater support for Marikina shoemakers and MSMEs

Three-term Senator and now Senatorial Candidate Loren Legarda today called for greater promotion of and more assistance for the local shoe industry and other small businesses in Marikina City, stressing that funding and technical support should be provided to give the industry much-needed boost to recoup losses after businesses were affected by the pandemic.

“The shoes made in Marikina are of excellent quality, but without adequate support, especially by way of patronizing and marketing the products, and due to the effects of the pandemic, the industry has been struggling to sustain operations,” Legarda said.

A known champion of local MSMEs, Legarda authored Republic Act No. 9501 or the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Act and funded government programs such as DOLE Pangkabuhayan, DSWD Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), and DTI Shared Service Facilities that provide financial capital, resources, and facilities to MSMEs and other sectors that would want to start their livelihood to generate more income.

“We need to have programs that would help revive the industry. Support from both the national and local governments is needed. We can invite more Filipinos and foreigners to visit the shoe museum in Marikina and organize trade fairs to showcase their products while observing the minimum health protocols. We should also enhance our information dissemination and introduce to our shoemakers and MSMEs the available government programs and assistance they are entitled to avail,” she added.

To strengthen her support to the people of Marikina city, especially the displaced workers and unemployed, Legarda provided job opportunities to Marikeños through the DOLE Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) Program to supplement the lack of income of the residents in order to sustain the daily needs of their families amid the prevailing crisis.

“Nakilala ang Marikina, bilang shoe capital ng Pilipinas hindi lamang dahil nandito ang karamihan sa gumagawa ng sapatos, ngunit dahil sa dito ginagawa ang matitibay, magaganda at de-kalidad na sapatos, gawang Pilipino na nararapat lang maipagmalaki sa buong mundo. Nasabukan ko na din pong mag-suot ng gawang-Marikina at bilib ako sa galing ng ating mga shoemakers. That’s why we have to do something to keep the industry alive. We need to boost our local industries, such as shoe-making, because these local industries do not only provide employment and livelihood opportunities, but also serve as part of our Filipino identity,” Legarda concluded.

Legarda, great grand niece of Don Laureano “Kapitan Moy” Guevara, the founder and father of the shoe industry in Marikina, is set to join the UniTeam campaign sortie at the Amphitheater Riverbanks in Barangay Barangka, Marikina City today.###