A timely reawakening

I didn’t expect that Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?, a film made a few years before I was born and set in the late 19th century, will jolt and perk me up. I thought it would be a feat if I didn’t doze off 10 minutes after the opening credits. As it turned out, I was wrong – and I’m glad I was.

Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? tells the story of Nicolas "Kulas" Ocampo (played by Christopher de Leon), a naive Tagalog farmer, and the extraordinary circumstances that lead him to discover himself. The film’s main premise is the question "Who is the Filipino?" The answer seems to be as unclear then as it is now.

The film starts with Kulas leaving his town of Sta. Clara. He meets a friar who mistakes him for a tulisan. But upon realizing that he is well-meaning and harmless, the friar asks him to search for his son Miong and bring the boy to Manila. Kulas obliges and looks for the boy. Along the way he meets a gamut of characters, among them Diding, his love; Lim, the Chinese merchant who becomes his friend; Tibor, a lawyer. In the end, Kulas discovers his own identity – but not after stripping himself of everything: his home, family and even the love of his life.

If the characters are symbolic of the Filipinos in the midst of the Filipino-Spanish-American war, it can be said that not much has changed. Kulas is the typical Filipino – passive, resilient, someone who accepts whatever comes his way. Isn’t bahala na our mantra? But in the right circumstance, the Pinoy consciousness is stirred and he is forced to take charge and stand up for his and his children’s sake. We have seen this in history – it took us three centuries of oppression before we stood up against the Spaniards. During the Martial Law years, we bore the sufferings and abuse until Ninoy Aquino was killed at the tarmac. But then again it took us three more years to finally kick the dictator out of Malacanang. Recently, we gave two and a half years for an actor to prove his worth as president but not long enough to let him bring our country to the pits. We went to EDSA and stood up for what is right for us as a nation. We are passive, yes, but only until we realize we are being short-changed as a people.

Another interesting character is Diding. She is the picture of an ambitious Filipina who would do everything to reach her dreams. She is empowered, an antithesis to the Maria Clara image prevalent during that period in our history. In one scene, she tells Kulas, "Kung hindi ka matutong lumamon, ikaw ang lalamunin." She surely does know how to make "lamon" by seizing every opportunity that comes her way. 

It’s ironic how certain characters who regard themselves as not Filipino turn out to be real Pinoys. The Chinese merchant Lim tells Kulas he is not Filipino. "Intsik ako," he says. But he helps Kulas, saves him, and eventually gives up his life not only for his friend but also for the Philippines – and he isn’t even aware of it.

Tibor, on the other hand, regards himself as a "real" Filipino, having been educated as one and – by interpolation – "worthy" to be one. But don’t we see the same Tibor today? The ordinary Juan does his rightful duty as a Filipino – pays his taxes on time, follows traffic rules, upholds the sanctity of his vote. The "educated-and therefore-enlightened" folk, on the other hand, accumulate wealth via corruption, disregard traffic rules, and brandish themselves as "saviors."

The friar’s son Miong (sounds contemporary, doesn’t it?) is a speck of light in an utterly gloomy backdrop. He develops a deep relationship with Kulas whom he feels he is closer to than his biological father. Miong is the Filipino child as Kulas is the parent.

National Artist for Film and this movie’s director Eddie Romero presented Ganito... in such an entertaining manner it doesn‘t come across as "heavy" given the historical setting.

The film made me reassess the way I see things and live as a Filipino. The title itself made me think about the way we live our lives as Pinoys in the new millennium.

Apart from political and economic instability, military adventurism, unemployment, the budget cut on education, environmental degradation, traffic jams and flash floods, proliferation of bold films/bold stars, paano na nga ba tayo ngayon?