when papa met tatay

by pia
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It was a sticky afternoon in March when Mike’s family arrived at our house for the traditional pamamanhikan. They brought with them baskets laden with native delicacies from their hometown of Tanuan, Batangas. There was also a huge bowl of bilo-bilo which my brother thoroughly enjoyed up to late that evening.

I waited for this moment and planned for a smooth exchange of introductions in my head. “Hi Tito and Tita, these are my parents Arthur and Lita. Ma, Pa, these are Mike’s parents Ding and Baby.” But between helping Mike unload the baskets of bibingka, suman and tamales, and scurrying to welcome the simultaneous arrival of Kuya Marvin and Manel cradling their baby daughter Monique… somehow both sets of parents managed to introduce themselves without needing any of our help!

We got comfortable in our sala and that’s when the formality of asking-for-my-hand-in-marriage began. Tito Ding started out by saying that in Tanuan, this tradition was called pamulong. He then amused us by quickly turning to Mike and gave him the floor.

Mike then spoke quietly yet sincerely. He explained again how, that one night in late December, he formally asked my parents for their blessing to marry me. He recounted our initial preparations… from booking our church and finding the perfect reception venue, to searching for florists and meeting with our wedding coordinator. He spoke of our plans to personally visit our Ninongs and Ninangs. I had to fight back tears…it seemed like only yesterday when we first met in UP as lanky kids, and here we are now seven years later, with both our families, discussing our wedding plans!

That was basically where all wedding and marriage talk came to an end. Our dads pretty much discussed goings-on at work and our moms were busy playing with darling Monique. They looked so at-home with each other already. I felt myself smile from ear to (bigger) ear. Our parents have formally met! It was as if I got engaged all over again.


We feasted on grilled salmon, chicken pastel, garlic sotanghon, and sumptuous mango tart from our humble kitchen (thank you, Conti’s!). More questions about color motif were asked by our excited Moms, but soon after my in-laws took their leave.

I will never forget that day … when Papa met Tatay.