(This Is the Way It Was ... How Is It Today?) / Also known as As We Were / 1976 / Color / Drama / 136 minutes / Direction: Eddie Romero / Screenplay: Eddie Romero and Roy Iglesias / Cinematography: Justo Paulino / Editing: Ben Barcelon / Production Design: Laida Lim-Perez and Peque Gallaga / Sound: Demetrio de Santos / Music: Lutgardo Labad / Produced by Hemisphere Pictures Inc / Cast: Christopher de Leon (Kulas), Gloria Diaz (Diding), Eddie Garcia (Don Tibor), Dranreb (Bindoy), Tsing Tong-Tsai (Lim), Leopoldo Salcedo, Rosemarie Gil, E. A. Rocha, and Johnny Vicar

The film narrates the adventures and misadventures of a naive peasant boy, Kulas, who wanders through the Philippine Revolution of 1896-1898 and the Philippine-American War of 1899-1901. The events serve as catalysts for Kulas to come to a realization about his identity as a man and as a Filipino.

The hut that Kulas calls home burns down as a result of his negligence. Forced to leave the farm to look for temporary shelter, he encounters a priest fleeing a band of thieves. They get acquainted and the priest begs Kulas to take his illegitimate son Bindoy to Manila. On their way to the city, Kulas and the boy meet a traveling theater troupe. Kulas falls in love with the lead, Diding. But he is not given the chance to declare his love as he must proceed to the city with the boy and the troupe has to move on.

With the boy in tow, Kulas reaches Manila by boat. Lim, a Chinese merchant he meets on board, guides him through the city. Kulas is at a loss after escorting the boy to his destination, until he encounters Diding again, who is now married to a Spanish mestizo, Don Tibor.

Another misfortune befalls Kulas when Spanish soldiers mistake him for a rebel. He is incarcerated but escapes with the help of a fellow prisoner, a revolutionary, just before he is to be executed. Meanwhile, Manila is in chaos because of the arrival of the Americans. The Spanish regime falls, and Kulas decides to see Diding for the last time. After a brief encounter with the woman, Kulas leaves in pursuit of his future and his identity as a Filipino.

Ganito addresses the question of Filipino identity at the time of the wars against Spain and against America. The film won the Gawad Urian for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Production Design, and the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences awards for Best Actor (de Leon), Best Supporting Actor (Salcedo), and Best Music. It was adjudged one of the 10 Best Films of the Decade 1970-1979 by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino. In 2014, the ABS-CBN Archives and Central Digital Lab showed the digitally restored version of the film in selected cinemas and on Cinema One.