Marikina teachers get free leather shoes

• A  total of 2,681 teachers and 651 non-teaching personnel in Marikina will receive a pair of good quality leather shoes.  
• The good news was announced by Marikina City Mayor Marcy Teodoro over the weekend.
• Teodoro said the giving of free shoes was in recognition of the hard work of the city’s educators.

MANILA, Philippines — All public school teachers and non-teaching personnel in Marikina City, dubbed as shoe capital of the Philippines, will receive leather shoes from the local government, Marikina Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro on Sunday said.

Teodoro said the giving of pair of shoes for each of the city’s 2,681 and 165 school personnel was in recognition of their hard work to nurture the minds of their students.

“Our teachers are our second parents. Walang sawa silang nagtuturo at nagpapasensya sa ating mga anak upang maturuan sila at magkaroon ng magandang buhay balang araw (They patiently teach our children so that they will have bright future),” Teodoro said in a statement.

“Marapat lamang na atin silang i-treat ng isang pares ng leather na sapatos. Ito ay munting pasasalamat ng lungsod Marikina sa ating masisipag na guro, isasama ko na rin iyong mga guard at canteen staff. (They deserve this pair of leather shoes. It’s Marikina City’s little way of thanking our hardworking teachers as well as our guards and canteen staff),” the mayor added.

Teodoro said the project was in partnership with two Marikina-based shoe firms — Lara Erika Shoes and Checkpoint Shoes.

The two shoe companies have prepared three styles of black leather shoes female teachers can choose from and also two varieties of shoes for male teachers and non-teaching personnel.

Dr. Elisa Cerveza, Marikina Schools Division assistant superintendent, said it is the first time that teachers will be given shoes by the city government since she started teaching in the city.

“Since I started teaching here in Marikina, ito ang first time na magbibigay ang lokal na pamahalaan ng sapatos sa mga guro. Matagal na ako rito sa Marikina kaya nakakagalak itong ginagawa ni Mayor Marcy (it is the first time that a local government provided shoes for teachers. I’ve been teaching here in Marikina for a long time and I’m happy what Mayor Marcy is doing),” she said.

Teachers, according to her, are very elated when they learned that Teodoro made a directive to give them a pair of black leather shoes each, saying they felt appreciated and loved by the local government.

“Iba kasi ang pakiramdam kapag ang lokal na pamahalaan ay may pagpapahalaga sa mga guro. (It’s a different kind of feeling when the local government values the work of the teachers),” Cerveza said.

She said the non-monetary support of Marikina City government would boost the morale of the teachers and would inspire them to work harder. —PNA