Music Room, Malacañan Palace
April 26, 2017

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte welcomed Mr. Rolando ‘Tatay Oly’ Santos and his family as they paid him a courtesy call in Malacañan Palace.

During the meeting, Tatay Oly gave President Duterte a new pair of shoes. Delighted by the gesture, the President said he would wear the shoes during his chairmanship of the 30th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders’ Summit in Manila.

Likewise, President Duterte remarked that he would come up with a plan to support the local shoemakers and help restore the shoemaking industry in the country’s shoe capital, Marikina City.

Mr. Rolando Santos is a pioneer in the shoemaking industry and is one of the few remaining shoemakers of his generation. He began learning his trade as an expert cobbler at the age of 11.

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