“Who is a Filipino?

” this question had been the highlight of the movie Ganito Kami

Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? Indeed, a great question to ponder upon by all Filipinos of

all times, not just of the olden times when the answer to this have been obscured by the

existence of Spanish and American colonizers, when natural-born Filipinos are blank of

their identities and nationalities because they have been stolen of all these by the

burden of tyranny impacted upon by those not from the Philippines. The movie has

emphasized the question so much that it sparked a great deal carried throughout the

entire plot by the main actor named Kulas – a naïve young man from the mountains with

nothing but his horse traversing the will-be confusing life of abundance of riches and

love to an unsettled woman.

Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon is an eye-opener to all Filipinos especially that

it tackles issues concerning how difficult it is to live without the luxury of freedom and

liberty. To live under the invisible shackles of being governed by people who are not of

the same Filipino blood and to be in constant fear of being abused by Spanish people

taking advantage of the ignorance incurred from the inability to visit schools due to the

its lack or deficiency and/or only those privileged enough are provided its facilities.

The movie featured the life of Nicolas ‘Kulas’ Ocampo as he ventured into the unknown

road with nothing but a horse in his possessions. …..

The task is to critique a certain part of the movie and ours is the fourth portion which is

after the first 90 minutes of the film up to its end. The portion started with Kulas

searching for his love Diding since the woman suddenly deserted the home the night

Kulas brought her father (Fortunato ‘Mang Atong’ Capili) home with him. Kulas was

dazed because there seemed to be no reason for her to escape especially that she
seemed happy the day before and the two of them are soon to be married. Later, after

searching far, Kulas found Diding in the house of Don Tibor, she seems to have eloped

together with the man Kulas believed. This portion of the movie tells the audience of the

unfair and unjust world of how unsettled women has a tendency to change their minds

and suddenly leave those who love them for other men who they think are better in

most ways than the man that they are with first; that in a little dispute unexplained to

them, they can just leave simply because they can without even considering what the

first man will feel.

Don Tibor then challenged Kulas to a fencing match in his great advantage knowing that

the poor lad has no experience whatsoever in the sport. Here, Mang Atong advised Don

Tibor that they should just talk and whatever Kulas will lack, he will just fill, but Tibor

was only arrogant enough to tell Mang Atong that he does not need any advice from an

Indio and it is only the old man’s blind optimism to regard himself a Filipino the same as

Don Tibor. This part shows two ideals: 1) How the ignorant can be taken so lightly and

that their lack of knowledge thereof can be used by other people to their advantage, that

there is a thin line between courage and stupidity such as when Kulas thought he can

beat Don Tibor of his own sport (fencing); 2) The elegance of the title “Filipino” is

absolute given that Don Tibor implied how not everyone is worthy of the said title; this is

a bitter sweet notion given that it is good since it comes with it that being a Filipino is so

coveted, it is not gained by birthright but earned by working hard in life and reaching

feats that not everyone can get, and also sad since it leads to fellow Filipinos degrading

those from the lower tiers in life as Indios and will never be worthy of the title Filipino.
Mang Atong then confronted Kulas about the identity of Diding, that he is not the real

father of the woman he is in love with and she only joined him when she was still a

teenager. Kulas then walked out of the conversation and observed a murder of a pro-

Spanish Filipino to another Filipino who proudly bellowed of the arrival of the Americans

and that the Spanish colony will finally be abolished. This part portrays the division

among fellow Filipinos back in the days when beliefs were still shrouded by opposing

ideals from the Spanish and Americans; that fellowmen see each other as enemies

already, forgetting that they should work shoulder to shoulder to oppose the real tyrants

that made them turn to each other in the first place. The scene seemed random and can

be deemed by the audience as insignificant in a way since it bears no significance to the

life of Kulas, like why would the directors insert the scene in an important “thinking-

stage” of the main actor. But analyzing deeper, one can infer that this is only added to

bring more spice in portrayal of the real events on the colonization period of the

Philippines.

Kulas then went home and instead of being tended of his wounds by the insisted doctor

of Concordia, he contended that he be left alone to just rest. Some guardia sibil then

went to his home and invited him to a prison cell to confirm the identity of Onofre ‘Kidlat’

Baltao, and upon reaching the cell, he denied the person to be Kidlat which angered the

Komandante and sent Kulas together with Kidlat in his cell. The scene talks of the

supreme and somewhat abusive power of those in command (i.e., the guardia sibil,

police, etc.) in the colonization era, that even without legal proceedings Kulas was

deemed as an accomplice of the criminal Kidlat simply because he exercised his rights

of silence when under interrogation; this is a form of extrajudicial incrimination that is

considered to be illegal but because of the powers implied to be vested on those of the

Spanish side, this is so casually done. An important scene indeed since it tells of the

unjust treatment to Filipinos simply because they are inferior of the law imposed by

colonizers.

The two inmates, Kulas and Baltao, was escorted to be transported to another cell when

they planned their escape; they beat the three guards accompanying them and went

straight to the house of Lim (a friend of Kulas who helped him to get to Maynila). There,

the Chinese men tended to the wounds of Baltao and allowed the two to rest for the

night. This part depicts the longtime kinship of Filipino and the Chinese, because even if

Kulas only met Lim and his family for a short while and the utang na loob of Kulas have

accumulated largely already, the Chinese never hesitated to help the both of them even

if the odds are clearly against his family if in the event that he extend his help to the

escaped inmates knowing that they might be held accountable as well of the crimes

committed by Baltao thus become imprisoned as well; this scene is a depiction of how

Don Tibor described the Filipino on the earlier part of the film – that Filipinos are those

that are ready to serve and prepared to accept responsibility no matter what his color or

true nationality is – and is of total importance since it clearly brings meaning to the main

agenda of the film as to who are the Filipinos, and if taken with careful consideration by

the audience, might intensify their patriotism as to who they are supposed to be, a real

Filipino, as defined.

Baltao was hostile upon his wake the next morning, threatening to kill Lim’s family if

they attempt to report to the guardia sibil, but Lim stayed calm. Lim, together with his

wagons of goods and other Chinese men, went on to pass through a bridge going to
Mandaluyong, but they were halted by some soldiers exclaiming that the group cannot

pass since there will be a clash between them and members of the revolutionary. So the

battle commenced and in a Trojan-horse manner of entrance, Baltao and Kulas sprung

out from the goods carried by Lim’s wagons and started attacking the soldiers, but in an

attempt to save Kulas, Lim was shot in the guts and later died. This portion tells of the

bravery of Filipinos back in the days, when even if outnumbered and barraged by

constant harassment from the colonizers, they never failed to continue fighting for what

they think is right even in the cost of their own lives or their families. But it is striking to

understand the principles of the revolutionary Filipinos, it is so out-of-the-box for it

seemed like the society is already working but the principle is that since there are still

Filipinos leaving out of scraps in the slums and that non-Filipino colonizers still rule the

upper hand, the fight will still continue until real freedom is achieved – even if, as I wrote

earlier, the society seems to already be working fine.