BIÑAN, LAGUNA?At the height of the storm, Rudy Ladrera had something else to save other than his life. He had to gather the sandals that floated around him before the rising floodwater swept them away.

Ladrera, like most villagers of Malaban in this town, makes footwear for a living.

It is not known to many that the footwear industry once thrived in this small village back in the 60s.

Its residents said the industry existed in Malaban even before Liliw, another town in Laguna, and Marikina City, came to be known as the footwear capitals of the country.

?Malaban had more than 500 footwear producers but only about 30 (of them) survived the (impact of) globalization,? said Biñan Councilor and Tourism Council Vice Chair Gat Alatiit.

After the devastation by Tropical Storm ?Ondoy? (international codename: Ketsana) footwear makers feared they would lose whatever little recognition they have.

?Before the China-made (footwear) came, sandals were made in almost every home here. With this flood, there will surely be less of us (producers),? said Rolly Artes, who has been managing a footwear business since 1986.

Shoemakers

Shoemakers usually make ladies? slippers out of wood, covered and designed with colorful fabric. The products are delivered to Metro Manila stores.

Nora Fajilagot, 60, a native of Malaban, said the demand began to drop when imported shoes and footwear came to the country in the early ?90s.

?Everything is done manually here,? said Girlie Leyva, 28, whose family is behind a footwear business that has existed since 1979.

She said footwear makers in Liliw and in Marikina were originally from this village. One reason workers migrated to Liliw was the constant demand for the product, she added.

?Footwear is sold per pair in Liliw but here we sell them per dozen,? she said.

In Malaban, the orders also come from September to February.

Submerged

While the Leyvas had to shut down their business, others plod through the flood and act as if it is business as usual.

?My workers have to eat. I pity them because every time there is relief (distribution) they wade through the flood like mendicants,? Artes said of the 18 people depending on the footwear production.

He moved his workplace out of his submerged home to his piggery located on an elevated area so they could resume their production two weeks after the storm.

Artes sold his hogs to buy the materials washed away by the flood.

From their average weekly production of 120 dozens of footwear he was expecting to finish only about 50 given their situation.

Transporting the materials by boat because of the flood also costs him thrice the price than when ferried by tricycle the way they used to.

Melchor Alsona?s ?sapatusan,? however, had resumed its work after a week of halt in production. He said he is now renting a warehouse in another village.

?We all have to eat. They are not giving us tickets (for food rations) anyway because they said the policy is to exclude those who own a shoe factory.

They do not know we are also indebted,? he said.

In the case of Eric Talampas, he said they needed to work double time to finish the order as their production was also delayed by the flood.