By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — To boost the shoe industry in Marikina City, Mayor Marcelino ‘Marcy’ Teodoro on Wednesday announced the launch of the first Shoe Tech school in the country which will be operational in the city in 2020.
“We are targeting to start the construction of the Shoe Tech building two to three months from now. It will be operational in the third quarter of 2020,” Teodoro told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday.
Teodoro said the trainors for the Shoe Tech School who trained overseas are now ready to teach aspiring shoemakers.
“Trainors of the Shoe Tech School are already in place. They’re trained overseas. Why overseas? It is because our market is global. Ayaw naman nating mapag-iwanan sa (We don’t want to be left behind in terms of) style and technology,” he stressed.
The local chief executive said the establishment of the Shoe Tech School aims to solve the problem of the country’s shoe capital — the lack of skilled shoemakers.
“The problem is that we don’t have enough skilled workers. We want to address this problem that is why we came up with the creation of a Shoe Tech School,” he said.
Teodoro said the city government will spend around PHP60 million to build the Shoe Tech School in the compound of the Pamantasan Lungsod ng Marikina which is located in Barangay Concepcion Dos.
“The shoemaking equipment will be provided by the Department of Trade and Industry,” Teodoro said.
According to Teodoro, the city government will allow at least 10 percent of the Tech School’s total population to be non-residents, but they will be required to work in the city to help its shoe industry.
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