MANILA, Philippines — For some sneakerheads in this time of public health crisis due to the coronavirus, helping fellow Filipinos trumps holding on to their prized collections.
Early in April, sneaker vlogger Carlo Ople auctioned off his collection to raise funds for frontliners.
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"They are modern day heroes and they lacked PPEs and support," Ople told Philstar.com in an online exchange.
Soon, he had around 30-35 pairs of sneakers pooled from fellow shoe enthusiasts.
Other celebrities donated sneakers such as UAAP three-time Finals MVP Thirdy Ravena, radio DJs Slick Rick and Bigboy Cheng, and broadcaster Julius Babao.
Some high value and hard to cop pairs were also thrown in the batch for selling.
Even corporate magnates Manuel V. Pangilinan and Al Panlilio donated their prized possessions to the cause.
Ople ended the auction on April 10 and raised almost P700,000. “Beneficiaries will be Feed Philippines Inc., Tulong Kapatid PLDT-Smart Foundation and National Center for Mental Health,” he said.
Cainta mayor auctions off shoe collection
Ople also supported the initiative of fellow sneakerhead Cainta Mayor Kit Nieto who started auctioning off his personal collection for cash aid for residents not covered by the national government’s Social Amelioration Program.
He bought off Nieto’s Travis Scott low for P71,000.
But Ople resold the copped kicks and 100% of proceeds will again go to residents of Cainta.
Nieto wrote on Facebook that Ople said he will be sending a check for P60,000 that he raised from reselling the Jordan 1 Travis Scott pair.
Nieto’s first day of auction fetched P132,000. On Wednesday, he raised another P117,000.
With the money raised in the past two days, the Cainta mayor said the municipal government will be able to give P2,000 assistance to 124 displaced workers.
The Cainta mayor’s initiative also reached shoe store Sole Republiq that sent “three pairs of high-end rubber shoes” which will be part of a special auction on Thursday morning.
Nieto earlier told Philstar.com: “I will be auctioning off three pairs per day and I think I have enough to last until the quarantine ends. If it is extended again — and I hope not — I think we will still have enough to auction."