Maria Cristina C. Gornez M.

A Lit

Lit: 611 May 27, 2019

“Women and Status in Sepang Loca”

Sepang Loca is a play about a woman who gave birth to a son, who disappeared and found

dead on the well while her son is missing.

The play started with an opening narration describing the village by the sea with busy

fishermen and women working for a living. People were happily chatting with each other while

doing their work and contented in life. The author presented a close knit community and people

were familiar to each other. It is the same community that we are living in, were people lives a

simple and contented life.

In the opening narration Sepang Loca was introduced wearing a brightly costume but when

fishermen brush to her she suddenly cowers in the corner while the other laughs at her. Sepang

Loca describes as a person who is mentally incapable, this is also supported when the narrator

states that “they say that each town has one of them” when introducing her. When Sepang Loca

vanished with her newly born child, villagers recounted that before, after she had given birth she

will go to the well and bathes herself as well as the baby. And so the villagers went to the well and

search for her and there they found her cold and dead but the child is not with her. The villagers

look everywhere particularly into the deep well, it took them a while to find the child and later on

while the villagers were busy chatting with each other Juan emerged from the well with the baby.

The author’s purpose in introducing this incident is to highlight the strong need and wants of

women to bear a child. In the first part of the play women even dances in the feast of Santa Clara

so that their prayer will be heard and a seed of life will be given to their dry womb. For the villagers,
it is not fair that some of them were not bless with a child but Sepang Locas is who is incapable of

raising a child.

In the entirety of the story the Son’s father, mother and the villagers were all affected and

worried about the incident of Sepang Loca and her missing child but he was indifferent about the

situation. Her mother even told her to come with them to the well and visit the well were Sepang

Loca was found and support the people who were searching for the missing child but instead he

reason out that he would like to stay at home and read. But since he does not have a choice he went

with his parents, the people around them together with his parents exchanging their conversations

about Sepang Loca but he does not care at all. When the child was found the villagers hovered

around happily inspecting the child. The Son went to check the child but then turns his back on

them, hesitated to look back. But then one of the women observed and stated that there is a big

black mole shaped almost like a drop on the child’s chest. His father examined the child and

admitted weakly that indeed there is a mole and so his mother search the crowd and her gazed fell

on him and everything makes sense. This concludes that the Son is the one who fathered Sepang

Loca’s child.

For me, the story tells about the women’s need to bear a child but women bearing a child

out of wedlock is unacceptable in the society. It also reflects how important one’s reputation and

status in the society. In the entirety of the story it is clearly suggested that the unknown father of

Sepang Loca’s child is the Son but he is indifferent throughout the story and the only explanation

is if ever he will come out claiming that he fathered Sepang loca’s child their family reputation

will be tarnished and it will greatly affect their status since his father is an Al Calde.