PhilippineFootware suppliers

From around  500 registered manufacturers in the nineties, there are only 145 remaining in the country's shoe capital. More than 600,000 shoe workers lose their jobs every year and average production has dwindled from 105,000 pairs of shoes a year in 1994 to 42,000 pairs in 2003.

The downswing in demand for locally-made shoes is apparent as Filipinos continue to flock to flea markets and tiangges in Greenhills and other commercial centers, where an ordinary pair of counterfeit Nike shoes can go for as low as P300.

Due to the cheap price, only a few would purchase more expensive locally-made leather shoes even if they are marketed as made in Marikina. Add to this Filipinos' continuing preference for foreign shoe brands such as Skechers, Nike, Adidas, and Converse, most of which are subcontracted by their mother companies to factories in China and other countries with low labor costs.