Directions: Watch the film, “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?

” Write a reflective essay

about the film, “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?” Make sure the guide questions below
are answered.

Describe the nineteenth-century Philippines as represented in the film.

Philippine society since then has a unique blend of diversity and homogeneity, aside from
that, it was really rich of natural resources, no wonder many countries wanted to colonize.The
life of the people in 19th century is really far from our life in today’s generation, from the way
they dress to the way they talk and the languages that they used as well as how deep they are,
if you had a connection with the Spaniards or you are part of the family of a Spaniards you are
consider rich, as well as being servant in the church. The film shows the transition of the
administration from Spaniards to Americans. It consistently contains and portrays lives of the
Filipinos under the ruling of their colonizers. It has evidently showed the inferiority of the
Filipinos in their own country which made the concept of nationality identity of the Filipinos to be
obscured and vague. People before used to act and dress lie the foreign invaders in order to
blend with them, though many are still not tht fluent to the languages of the colonists. Because
of they believe that someday they could already talk to them and voice out their thoughts and
opinions towards te betterment of the country. The Spaniards regimes systemically destroy
native communities and their institutions. It brutalized the Indio’s making them work as forced
labor in the governments various project. All of the above, the Spaniards imposed a religion,
Catholicism, on the population whose sacred believes and shrines had to be destroyed. The life
of people before might be hard but aside from its negativity we can’t hide the fact that this
revolution helped in shaping the Filipino identity. Through the colonization and Filipino revolution
helped in creation of the Filipino identity. As much us we don’t want to romanticized the native
and demonized the foreign conquerors.The 19th century Philippines somehow gave birth to the
Filipino identity. As it shapes who the Filipinos are through their struggles and hardships and the
realizations and knowledge of being a Filipino.
In the title, “Ganito kami noon, Pano kayo ngayon?” there is a question that needs to be
answered.The film shows the depicts of struggles of the Philippines Independence, and it was
been portrayed by a simple boy whom just want to travel and know more about the country, the
film portrayed wars that is feuds in our current time. In the film Kulas always ask the lawyer
Don Tibor, if it is right to call himself a Filipino Don Tibors response life a mark in my mind, He
said that “ in order to be called a Filipino one must be worthy and valuable person.” Something
that mostly Filipino is lack of. Kulas which is the protagonist in film experience lot of ups and
down, he experience being wealthy, being respected, being bullied, being heartbroken and
being betrayed by the people that surrounds him. But in the end he realize that it is not enough
to be born in the Philippines in order to be called Filipino , that being Filipino doesn’t only
mean about the physical ties a person has with the land or the tradition. It simply means
recognizing ourselves as the protector of the land and protect our fellow men, it simply means
that it’s better to die knowing you did something for the country than to live without doing
nothing.