Robina Gokongwei-Pe on our Marikina footwear (and shoe forth and shoe on)
When I first met Robina Gokongwei (now Pe) in the mid-’80s, she had just returned from New York where her parents sent her to study. Her college studies in the Philippines were interrupted after she was kidnapped on her way to UP Diliman with a cousin. She was famously rescued by the team of Panfilo Lacson, who has since become her favorite candidate for president.
How did we meet?
“My boss Robina Gokongwei would like to write for your magazine,” an employee of Robinsons called me on a landline back then. I was managing editor of the Sunday magazine of the Daily Express.
“Okay,” I replied. “Let your boss come to our office.” I thought she was just a bored tycoon’s daughter, so I wanted to check how serious she was about writing.
Robina came to our office in Port Area, with her dog waiting in her car with a bodyguard, wearing a Robinsons Department Store uniform.
“Why do you wear a saleslady’s uniform?” I asked. She said she did work as a saleslady at Robinsons and she wanted to blend in with the other employees.
“I don’t want customers to know that I am the daughter of the owner of our department store,” Robina explained. She added that if they did, customers would ask her for discounts (when their prices were already low) and make unreasonable demands.
“Unreasonable demands? Like what?” I asked.
“Like a customer wanted to return and be refunded for a box of Monday-to-Sunday panties—one of which was obviously already used,” Robina said.
Then and there, I already noticed that she was a fan of locally-made goods. She held a black bag by Cardam’s, one of our famous Marikina brands that time. I asked if I could peek inside her bag—lo and behold, only one gun and nothing else. “A requirement for our security,” she explained.
During her next visits, Robina was using another Cardam’s bag, this time in brown. She alternated between the brown and black bags every time we met.
“You have only two handbags?” I asked jokingly.
“Yes,” she answered seriously.
“So you shop for your clothes at Robinsons, I suppose?”
“No, it’s cheaper for me to buy directly from my aunt who supplies our stores. Hulugan pa!” Robina proudly answered.
Today, she has many of her clothes designed for her by Vic Barba. And she does wear a mix of local and imported bags and shoes.
“My first pair of imported shoes—Prada—was given to me by my husband Perry Pe,” Robina said. “I used to fly Economy only, and it was also Perry who let me experience Business Class—for the first time—during our honeymoon.”
After the opening of Shoe Avenue in Spatio, the department store at the Gokongweis’ beautiful Opus Mall in Quezon City (where one of the bestselling restos is Breakfast at Antonio’s), Robina and I naturally talked about Marikina-made shoes.
PHILIPPINE STAR: You are obviously a patron of Philippine-made shoes and bags.
ROBINA GOKONGWEI-PE: Remember when we first met? I was using Cardam’s bag. My shoes that time were by Otto, Itti, Milani’s, and Via Venetto.
Local shoe brands normally don’t carry big sizes. What’s your shoe size?
My shoe size is 9.5. Pretty oversized for my age.
But I think today, many local shoemakers carry big sizes already, especially if they export. I do remember seeing you years ago in Prada shoes, a gift from Perry.
Gosh, you even remember!
What makes our local shoes comparable to imported ones?
Marikina shoes are very stylish.
Why do you think the local shoemaking industry has been in a slump and needed support from mall owners like you?
The manufacturing industry needs government support. We import almost everything, so we are hostage to supply and forex. Manufacturing also creates jobs, especially for those who did not finish university.
What kind of shoes do you prefer? How many pairs of shoes do you have? Any shoe fetish?
I have 12 pairs of sneakers, six pairs of slippers, and six pairs of office and party shoes.
Does your UP Maroons basketball team endorse a particular brand of shoes? Do you have a tie-up with any brand?
That, I have to ask.
What kind of shoes do you wish still could be invented?
It has already been invented! Snakeskin shoes.
