10. MARIQUINA SHOES ON A RAINY CHRISTMAS DAY

MARIQUINA SHOES ON A RAINY CHRISTMAS DAY

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

25 December 2016

It is Christmas Day and rain continued to fall since we left Isabela last 23^rd. Checking on the weather bureau 5:00 a.m. bulletin, “Bagyong Nina” (international name, “Nock-ten”) has maintained its strength as it continues to endanger Bicol region. At 4:00 a.m. today, the eye of typhoon was located at 250km East of Virac, Catanduanes. PAGASA has raised tropical cyclone warning signal no. 3 over the areas of Catanduanes, Albay and Camarines Sur while Metro Manila is on signal no. 1.

The rain did not stop us from taking a trip around the metropolis. We went to Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City. I missed the place and reminisced my high school days in La Salle Green Hills (LSGH). The school is situated a couple of kilometers away from the complex. In the 90s, students of LSGH were allowed to leave campus and have lunch at the commercial center. Then, we had early dinner at 7Flavors Buffet run by celebrity chef Boy Logro also in San Juan. We continued our voyage and reached Riverbanks Center in Marikina City.

The Riverbanks Center, also known as Marikina Riverbanks, is a mall and office complex located at A. Bonifacio Avenue adjacent to the Marikina River Park in Barangka near the Marcos Bridge over the Marikina River. Riverbanks is located on a 21 hectare site which formerly held Asia’s largest textile factory – the Universal Textile Mills (UTEX). The Riverbanks Development Corporation acquired the site in 1995 and it opened to the public in April 1999.

After a hard struggle for parking space, I went straight to the complex biggest shoe store and looked for the “Made in Marikina” footwear so at least I could have a pair as a Christmas gift for myself. I also had a picture with the world’s largest pair of shoes situated at the far end of the shop. “The History of Marikina’s Shoe Industry” authored by Nonet Angeles in 2013 narrates the history of the old pueblo and how the industry thrived. “Marikina was founded three hundred eighty-three years ago when the Jesuits arrived in 1630. They called the area Jesus dela Peña (Jesus of the Rocks). It was later called Mariquina and a parish was established there in 1687. Fishing and farming were the main source of livelihood. In 1901, the town was officially named Marikina by  a member of the First Philippine Commission, Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera y Gorricho (1857-1925), replacing the hispanized “q” with the vernacular “k”. In 1975, the town was officially made a part of the newly-created Metro Manila”. 

“The significant year for Marikina was in 1887. It was in this year when shoemaking started to flourish through the efforts of Don Laureano "Kapitan Moy" Guevarra (1851-1891). From this year, the growth of the place economically becomes dynamic due to shoemaking. Marikina is one of the sixteen (16) cities and a municipality of Metro Manila. It was proclaimed a city through the Republic Act No. 8223 on December 8, 1996. It is a multi-awarded metropolitan city, often cited for its vibrant economy, highly-skilled and literate work force, involved and enlightened business community and responsive local government that puts a premium on governance, sustainable urban development and public service. It is also one of the healthiest cities in the Asia-Pacific region, winning at least seventy-eight awards and recognitions both local and international in a span of twelve years.” 

“Today, Marikina is known as the Shoe Capital of the Philippines because of its progressive shoe industry and is also the home of the world’s largest pair of shoes certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Furthermore, the Shoe Museum preserved most of the famous shoes of former First Lady Imelda Marcos. The city also prides itself of cultural and heritage site, Kapitan Moy, the ancestral house of the “Father of the Shoe Industry in the Philippines” and other numerous tourist sites.” 

The pair of giant shoes on display at Riverbank Center measures 5.29 meters long, 2.37 meters wide and 1.38 meters high. The heel of the shoe is measured 41 centimeters. The pair was created for 77 days from August 5 to October 21, 2002 by the Marikina shoe industry manufacturers and was displayed for the 1^st Sapatero Festival.

There are several versions how the name of the city came to be. One of the builders of the Jesus dela Peña Chapel was a young priest called “Mariquina” who was given the task of baptizing children to Christianity and because of this very noble job, the locality was named in his honor. A second version states that before the Spaniards came to the locality, a beautiful, virtuous, polite, and intelligent lady named “Maria Cuina” was residing in the village. Because of her expertise in business, she became rich and her fortunes were spent to charities. She eventually became famous not only in the whole town but up to Manila. As travellers reached the place, they would normally ask for the name of the neighbourhood. The natives, thinking that they were looking for the admirable lady, would always give the name of the patroness. Since then, the village was always referred to as “Mariquina”.

A third version narrates that during the construction of the chapel of Jesus dela Peña, it was being supervised by the Jesuit missionary and the laborers were the natives. As expected, language barrier was a problem resulting in the usual misunderstanding. When the chapel was completed and the priest asked what name would be given to the structure. A worker answered “Marikit-na-po” (meaning “now beautiful”), thinking what was being asked was the condition of the chapel. Because the Spaniards knew that the word “po” is a sign of respect and they find it difficult to express the letter “t”, the “Marikit-na” was believed to be said as “Marikina”. Another account tells that in the Province of Biscay in Spain, there was a beautiful town called “Mariquina” named after a famous musician at that time - Eduardo de Mariquina. The town is located beside the Charmaga River (now Artibao River), which was the origin of the Jesuit missionaries who came to the Philippines and established Jesus dela Peña. To immortalize their hometown, they christened the locality with the same name.

Based on history and documents in the custody of the city government of Marikina, the city was called Marikit-na in 1787 when the village officially became a pueblo and was later changed to Mariquina. According to Dr. Pardo de Tavera, the word Mariquina was in recognition to Governor-General Félix Ignacio Juan Nicolás Antonio José Joaquín Buenaventura Berenguer de Marquina y FitzGerald (1733-1826) who governed Spanish Philippines from 1788-1793.

The City of Marikina has survived for 386 years from natural calamities, the Philippine Revolution, Philippine-American War, World War II, politics, social tragedies, and even the fury of Tropical Storm Ondoy (international name, Ketsana) on September 26, 2009 which brought heavy flood and devastation to Metro Manila. At the same time, Marikina’s shoe industry has survived for 129 years amidst local competition and globalization. Before the day ended, my rainy Christmas was compensated with a new pair of proudly Marikina-made shoes.