Imelda Marcos inaugurates Shoe Museum in Philippines

The 71-year-old widow of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos said she is "very proud" of the Shoe Museum, located inside a 300-year-old Spanish abode-and-brick structure at the Manila suburban city of Marikina, recognised as the Philippines' shoe capital.

"Marikina city Mayor Bayani Fernando has successfully recycled the notoriety of these shoes into something very positive," she said after opening the museum. "This embodies the spirit of the Filipinos, who always know how to turn negative things into positive."

Imelda's shoe collection became a symbol of the Marcoses' execesses during their 20-year rule. The Marcoses were chased out of power by a mass uprising in February 1986 and forced to flee into exile in Hawaii. At least 250 of Imelda's 3,000 pairs of sandals, pumps, slippers and boots were on display at the museum. Most of the pairs of shoes were recovered from the Malacanang presidential palace, while 50 were donated by the flamboyant former first lady.

"Most of these shoes have travelled all over the world, from China and Russia to the United States and Africa," Imelda said.

Noting that most of her shoes were made in Marikina, Imelda said one of her favourite shoes was a pair of locally made blue canvass espadrilles.

"It is one of my favourites because I am a working first lady," she said. "I always wear these whenever I go to project sites when my husband was still president."

The museum was set up in a bid to boost the country's sagging shoe industry - the main source of livelihood for Marikina residents. Marites Fernando, wife of the city mayor, said the museum also features shoes of former Philippine presidents and other dignitaries.

"This is just the beginning of what we hope to be a worldwide collection of shoes of leaders," she told reporters. "We also hope that with this initiative, more people would patronise shoes made in Marikina."

(dpa)