GAPAN CITY—A source of livelihood for some 15,000 people, footwear production in this Nueva Ecija city is a struggling industry that needs a stronger push, local officials concede.
“There’s no doubt our slippers here are creatively crafted, ones you can find in both modern and traditional designs,” says Leocadio Reyes, president of the City of Gapan Footwear Multipurpose Cooperative.
Reyes says footwear production has been in Gapan for as long as anyone can remember but government intervention, which gave the industry the needed push, only came in 2000.
Main livelihood
Mayor Christian Tinio says at least three Gapan villages—San Lorenzo, Marilou and Pambuan—have tsinelas (slippers) as their main source of livelihood. At least P200 million roll in this business annually, he says.
Saying demand for Gapan City-made footwear continue to grow, with orders coming from big shopping mall chains such as SM and Gaisano, Tinio says the market should level up to “repeat orders.”
“And that is now the bigger challenge to our producers here ... The quality of our products has to be upgraded and be attuned to the times, especially with the influx of products from China,” he says.
Brigida Pili, provincial director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), says footwear production was identified by the agency as this city’s One Town One Product (OTOP). This means that the industry should be the focus of national and local government agencies and private groups in livelihood programs, she says.
Technology transfer
Pili says OTOP identification entails support of technology transfer and provisions of financing facilities, packaging and marketing.
Besides DTI and the local government, the Department of Agriculture and the office of the provincial agriculturist are also part of the support system for industry players.
Reyes says government intervention has forced them to depart from the traditional branding of their products as “Made in Marikina” or other places known in the footwear industry.
“Bago dumating ang suporta ng gobyerno sa pagtsitsinelas, may mga umoorder at kung saan gustong sabihin na doon gawa, yun ang ginagawa ng iba (Before government support came, there were people who would place bulk orders and ask local workers to make it appear that the products came from a place specified by the customer. Some footwear makers here did that),” he says.
Technology transfer
Reyes says the city council earlier passed an ordinance that obliged producers to put the brand “Gapan” in their products. While most of them were initially reluctant, they were later surprised that buyers liked the branding.
Reyes says most of the raw materials they use, particularly synthetic leather, are imported from China. “We need a bigger capital but we manage to earn a little,” he says.
Tinio says apart from upgrading quality control mechanism, the city government also monitors the welfare of industry stakeholders, including the youth in production areas.
“We do not allow children to be exposed in dangerous areas of production,” he says.
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Published in Philippine Daily Inquirer September 4, 2010
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