Museum acquires Imelda Marcos' shoes

Museum acquires Imelda Marcos' shoes

MANILA (AP): The Philippines' shoemaking capital has acquired 200 pairs of shoes from the famed collection of former first lady Imelda Marcos for a new city shoe museum and hopes to add footwear from many presidents, an official said Monday.

Marikina, a shoe and leather goods center east of Manila, had hoped to obtain all 1,220 pairs of shoes abandoned at the palace after she and her strongman husband, Ferdinand, were ousted in a 1986 "people power" revolt.

But officials at Malacanang palace, where the shoes have been stored, were only willing to lend 200 pairs, said Pearly Jane Sison, a Marikina tourism official who oversees the city's new Footwear Museum.

The museum has also received shoes from two past presidents, Diosdado Macapagal and Carlos Garcia, and is trying to obtain a pair from current President Joseph Estrada, a former movie star, she said, "We want to show not only to the Philippines but also to the world our shoemaking industry."

The transfer of Mrs. Marcos' shoes to the Marikina museum was approved by Estrada on condition they could be taken back if the government needs them as evidence in pending graft cases against the Marcoses, Sison said.

Marcos' successor, Corazon Aquino, accused him of stealing billions of dollars during his 20-year rule and ordered many of his assets seized. She also had Mrs. Marcos' shoes displayed in the palace as a symbol of the former first lady's extravagance.

After the display, they were placed in a basement storeroom when Estrada's predecessor, Fidel Ramos, took power in 1992.

Sison said it was unfortunate that most of Mrs. Marcos' shoes were expensive foreign-made brands and less than 10 pairs were actually made in Marikina.

The pairs of Mrs. Marcos' size 8 1/2 shoes obtained by the museum include one with gold trim and another studded with rhinestones. There are two pairs of knee-high boots, but the museum could not obtain a battery-operated pair that blinked when Mrs. Marcos danced, Sison said.