Mang Bino: Bespoke Shoes

Marikina used to be famous for bespoke shoes. But the flooding of China-made shoes caused Philippine shoemakers to fade into irrelevance.

It took over an hour of driving all over Marikina to find one: Mang Bino.

My friend Ggie, who accompanied me, and I were led to him by one of the workers of a huge shoe store. He saw my pitiful limp, and said that one is still living, “Very old but very good.” 

From the main road, the good Samaritan showed us a dark, narrow alley that was so creepy I almost turned around. But my toes, digging into my flip-flops, said, This is your last card.

We turned left when we hit the wall and in a corner was (photos below)—a heap of garbage swarmed by flies, a decrepit table with two chairs, and a little boy hovering about.

Then Mang Bino, unshaven and half asleep, materialized with a bottle of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

“What kind of shoes do you want?” he rasped.

As I described my troubled toes, Ggie sketched Mang Bino on the little boy’s notebook. The old man smiled and showed us photos of unusual feet with the bespoke shoes he made for them. He also mentioned famous politicians as clients. “I was abroad making shoes for a long time.”

We did not ask why he came back and settled in the dump he calls home (starred last photo above).

In sum, he measured my feet, made sketches which I approved, and the deal was on. Two pairs—one formal and one casual, for pick up in two weeks.

Two weeks later . . .

The shoes caressed my feet, and so we said our goodbyes, and profusely thanked Mang Bino.

When I wore one pair for walking, however, my toes had tantrums—the same hysteria I feel with every shoes or slippers I wear. I tried on the other pair. Same result.

Two years ago, when I started having these grasping right toes, I had been whining every day.

But after my “last card,” my attitude took a U-turn. Because when I prayed to the Lord—for the nth time—to make this “torn in my flesh depart from me,” He replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)