Sapay Koma (Summary) Jhonna Lynn Cruz Maria and Leon has been dating for 3 months.

Maria was
raised in Pasay City and Leon in Itogon, Benguet. On their ever first valentine date, Leon gave her bowl
of white flowers. Maria was not into romantic dates until she met Leon. The very first time Maria met
Leon’s parents was on the wedding day of latter’s eldest brother. The two had been secretly dating for 7
months because they thought no one would accept their relationship. On the event, Leon’s father
wanted to know where Maria is from and what language does she speak. She said she was a Manilena
and could not speak Ilocano yet since she has just set foot in Baguio after resigning from her work. Maria
was wearing leopard print spaghetti-strapped dress revealing her tattoo on her back. No one knew that
she has already carrying a half-Igorot baby on her womb. The two decided to get married. But by law,
they have to get Leon’s parents’ consent which they refused to give. His mother said his Leon’s brother
has just married and for Cordillerans if siblings marry the same year, one of the marriage will fail. If they
would allow their marriage, the society will put the blame to Leon’s parents. Although the parents
should have said they should not marry because Leon is too young and Maria is ten years older than
him. When Maria told her mother about this, her mother wrote a demand letter saying that if their child
was on the same situation as Maria, they would rush them to get married. Maria was self-proclaimed
lesbian and despite having relationships to women, she fell in love with a young man perhaps because of
her pregnancy or may be because of love! Maria was the one who take all the responsibility in managing
their wedding- filing the license, buying the rings, looking for venue, finding the Judge, and paying for
everything. Maria understand the situation because the family spent all their savings for Leon’s
brother’s wedding where they butchered 8 pigs. But after all, Leon’s parents still signed the marriage
certificate in tyhe sala of Honorable Judge Fernando Cabato of Benguet. There were unfavorable
circumstances in the quick ceremony of the wedding. First, Maria told the clerk court that her mother-
inlaw’s name was “Constancia” but it was objected because her name was really “Conchita”. The judge
emphasized how important it is to not make errors in legal document. So when Maria told the judge
that her father-in-law’s name was “Johnny” the judge refused to believe. Second, Leon presented an
empty box of rings. The judge asked if the wedding is just a prank. It turned out that it slipped out of the
box and were in Leon’s pocket. The judge joked when they were about to kiss saying that it is obvious
that there is already a deposit in Maria’s womb. The reception was not grand. They only occupied round
table for 10 guests in a Chinese restaurant. They receive no gifts aside from the framed copy of a quote
in the bible. The whole event cost only 2,500 excluding the wedding rings. It was not the wedding of her
dreams but for a woman on a budget, this is already an ideal one. And so, the married life has begun.
The two couldn’t live together right away because it could be a mystery in Leon’s neighborhood to see a
strange pregnant woman roaming around. Maria continued to live alone in her apartment. Her husband
only stays in her place during weekends. At school, she was pretending that her husband is from Manila.

Maria’s Igorot friends believed that once the baby is born, Leon’s mother would finally accept her as the
mother of their grandchild. On Maria’s part, she believed that their marriage would still succeed even
without Leon’s parents’ approval. When the baby was born, they decided to move into the family home.
For the presence of the half-Igorot baby, Maria believed all would be forgiven. Before their marriage,
Maria had a black dog named “Sapay Koma”, an ilocano term for “Sana” which is both a wish and a
prayer. Koma was Maria’s companion throughout the 2 years of staying in her apartment. On their
move, Maria took Koma with them but the 5 other dogs did not like Koma and causes noise every now
and then. The humans could not sleep because of this and so was the newborn baby. The neighbors
offered to buy Koma for 500 pesos because Igorots like black dogs. They say the meat is tastier. Maria
thought that if Koma was to be eaten, it should be family so Leon invited his friends to put Koma out of
his misery. Maria locked herself in the bedroom together with her baby. She could still smell the burning
of hair and the cooking of meat despite the closed windows. It seems like the scent of it is haunting her
for her betrayal. When it’s time to eat what they cook, Maria was not asked to partake in the feast but
still she did. She just did it as a sign of respect to their culture. Maria misinterpreted the words “aw, aw”
after hearing Leon replying this to his father. She thought they are going to have dog again for dinner
but it turned out that these words mean “yes in their language Kankanaey. Maria found out that she was
pregnant again and considered it as a sign to keep trying to save their marriage. Maria could not
understand why a single food should be shared to everyone. She was trained to share but not the kind
of sharing Leon’s relatives do. Maria’s feeling can’t be described when her Gardenia bread was served to
the relatives who immediately wiped it out just because her peanut butter was tasty. It was not
selfishness on her part. Anyone can understand her situation because the town is too far to buy another
bread. When Maria confronted Leon about the bread, Leon explained that everything belongs to
everyone in Igorot culture. Maria took a permanent marker and wrote her name on the next loaf bread.
Maria’s father-in-law was a man of few words. It was when her daughter turned 2 when he decided to
acknowledge her existence. Before he was only talking to Leon when he wanted information from
Maria. But one time, his father-in-law talked to her asking if she had a VCD player at home. During the
Christmas Eve when everybody was singing Merry Christmas To you in the tune of Happy Birthday,
Maria thought she could finally have a chance to be worthy of being in the cozy family. Maria noticed
the photo gallery in her mother-in-laws’ wall in the house. Maria and her husband didn’t have a photo in
the wall. She thought it was because they didn’t have a church wedding. She suggested to Leon that
they could rent a gown and tuxedo and have a photo taken so they could finally have the wedding wall.
One day, another picture was added to the wall. It was Leon’s eldest sister with her American husband
and their baby boy. Not it is not “The wedding wall” but “Our children and their acceptable spouses”
Maria confronted her husband and told him it is time for him to fight for their family. Leon wrote a letter
to his family which made them cry. They said that the moment they got married, they have already
accepted Maria as part of their family. Three days later, their family picture was up on the wall already.
But it was too late for this. Maria and Leon have been into many fights. Leon is always with his friends.
By the time his family were willing to start over, Maria and Leon already gave up on theirs.

It was hard for Maria to tell Leon’s parents it was not their fault why their marriage has failed. She
thought it was because of the curse of the superstition “sukob ng taon” “Kapag minalas ka sa isang
lugar, itawaid mosa dagat” goes the Filipino proverb. Maria decided to live with her 2 children in Davao
City or the promised land as they fondly called. The house was nearly falling apart so her generous
landlady decided to tear it down. All that was left was dry and empty space in the yard. Last year, maria
spent their christmas without faving any family obligations to the relatives. All the shopping was only for
her children. She wanted to have a traditional Christmas with them. She cooked paella for noche buena
and found it difficult to cook. She started crying because everything was finally sinking in her mind. Her
children hugged her and told her to stop crying. She picked herself up and finished the recipe. Next year,
she would just order a lechon manok for take out. That night, her mother-in-law sent a text message
saying that they are praying for Leon and Maria to get back together especially for the children. But
Maria said that they have already tried their best and she still consider their relationship as family. At
the end, it was a story of “wishes” or sapay koma. Each of the character holds a secret wish to have
done things differently or to have a kinder and more understanding to the shortcomings of everyone.
But it takes less energy to wish it forward. Sapay koma naimbag ti biag yo dita or to hope that their life is
good.