Navigating Laguna Loop: Liliw

Tsinelas is a Tagalog term for sandals or slippers. In addition, you can use it when you are travelling in different places especially when you are go on a mountain trekking journey. In Laguna, there are many places which situated on the mountains. One of these places is Liliw, the Footwear Capital of Laguna which is one of the top producers of footwear especially sandals or tsinelas.

Liliw is a municipality in Laguna located in the southern part of the province. It is bounded northwest by Santa Cruz, northeast by Magdalena, on the east by Majayjay, on the west by Nagcarlan and Dolores, Quezon on the south. 

Situated at the foot of Mt.Banahaw, Liliw is known for a highland town, cold spring resorts, clear river, lush vegetation, native home sweets and the industry of sandals and shoes that rivals of Marikina City. Founded in 1571, Liliw came from the bird who delighted on a bamboo and sing "Liw liw liw." 

I came in this town twice and it is an ideal place for nature getaway because when you pass the zigzag and paved concrete roads there, the lush vegetation feels an exciting travel as well with ambiance of fresh air, the clear water flowing in the river, and the verdant trees and plants surrounded in the road. I also passed various resorts such as Batis ng Liliw where you can feel the cool and fresh water from Mt. Banahaw. Right after a fifteen-minute drive in the zigzag roads of Liliw, you can pass the sloping road and visit the busy town proper. It is the business center of the town where you can enjoy shopping various products from sweets to sandals made in Liliw. 

Liliw is known as the top producer of sandals in Laguna that rivals of shoe industry in Marikina. Colorful and fashionable sandals as well with the very good quality in terms of the material used like rubber and wood.

Large sandals can be found in stores and in the tower which signifies the footwear industry in Liliw.

Liliw is known for its industry of footwear. It is considered as one of the top producers of sandals in the Philippines because it is exported to other countries. The footwear of Liliw is not just your ordinary sandals, these footwear are colorful, fashionable and tough because of the raw material used. If Marikina has its large shoes, Liliw has its big sandals from the stalls to the huge sandal stand in the plaza.

Native sweets and snacks sold in Liliw. It is a perfect pasalubong for your family.

In addition, Liliw is also a home of sweets such as uraro, espasol, puto seko, polvoron, banana chips, otap and many more native delicacies which was considered as an all-time favorite among Filipinos. 

St.John the Baptist Church in Liliw, Laguna, one of the Baroque churches in the Laguna loop preserved from the Spanish era.

Last but not the least, I visited one of the Baroque churches in Laguna which is the St. John the Baptist Church. It was founded on 1605, the church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1880 and partly burned in 1898. Therefore, it was reconstructed and today, it is one of the oldest churches in our country because of it was preserved from the Spanish era as well with the style of architecture and the bricked facade.


Therefore, Liliw is a place where you can enjoy the bounties of nature through the lush vegetation, refreshing ambiance from verdant mountains, fresh air and clear water flowing from the river. Liliw is also an ideal venue to experience the Filipino marketplace scene because there are lots of native products to see and buy in this place, from native sweets to footwear, which makes the town one of the top producers of sandals in the country. So now prepare your "tsinelas" to travel on the way to Liliw.

The road from Liliw to Nagcarlan.