Francisco Balagtas to be ‘buried’ on his 230th birthday

The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), the government agency tasked to promote the Philippines’ national language, will mark Philippine literary giant Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar’s 230th birth anniversary next month by leading the interment of his “remains” in Bataan province. (Photo By Regenerate – Own work by uploader, ISBN 971-8591-15-X, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), the government agency tasked to promote the Philippines’ national language, will mark Philippine literary giant Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar’s 230th birth anniversary next month by leading the interment of his “remains” in Bataan province.

The symbolic interment on Monday morning (April 2) in Orion town in Bataan province was part of the celebration of Baltazar’s life and works, aside from highlighting his writings’ relevance to the modern times, said KWF senior language researcher Roy Rene Cagalingan.

Baltazar’s work includes “Florante at Laura”, the epic that champions nationalism and is among the Philippines’ literary masterpieces, Cagalingan said.

“We believe Baltazar truly deserves being recognized as a national hero of our country,” he said, stressing that heroes need not always express their nationalism through armed struggles.

Available information shows the late politician, writer, and acknowledged father of Filipino grammar, Lope K. Santos, also believed that Baltazar should have received recognition as a national hero long before others did.

Citing “Florante at Laura” as an example, Santos said Baltazar harnessed the pen’s might to advocate nationalism.

Baltazar was born on April 2, 1788 in Bigaa town in Bulacan province. He was the youngest of four children of Juan Balagtas and Juana de la Cruz.

Baltazar attended school and eventually learned to write poetry under the guidance of Tondo’s famous poet, Jose de la Cruz, whose “nom de plume” or pen name was “Huseng Sisiw.”

Philippine literary pieces were mostly written in Spanish then, but this didn’t dissuade Baltazar from writing his poems in Tagalog, a local language.

“Francisco Balagtas” was the pen name Baltazar chose for his work. He then moved to Bataan, married Juana Tiambeng in July 1842, and continued writing poetry until his death there on Feb. 20, 1862.

Cagalingan said Baltazar’s symbolic interment would also kick off the annual young writers’ conference called “Pambansang Kampong Balagtas”, which the KWF will hold from April 2 to 4 this year in Orion, Bataan.

Orion was chosen for the “interment”, since Baltazar died there, Cagalingan said. He said the agency would inter, as Baltazar’s “remains” soil that it would gather from the cemetery behind Orion’s San Miguel Church.

The KWF will bury the “remains” at the pedestal of Baltazar’s statue, which it had put up in Orion with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Proclamation 964 series of 1997 declared April 2 of every year as Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar Day.

The proclamation directs the KWF and the Department of Education (DepEd( to conduct activities and programs for its yearly commemoration.

Cagalingan said records at the San Miguel Church and the cemetery behind it were destroyed during World War II.
Accounts that several relatives of Baltazar were buried in that cemetery had reinforced the assumption that Baltazar was buried there, too, he said.

Cagalingan added that Hermenegildo Cruz’s book about Balagtas also cites a document saying an elderly man named Francisco Baltazar and married to Juana Tiambeng of Orion was buried there on Feb. 21, 1862.

In modern-day Philippines, Baltazar remains a popular literary figure. His “Florante at Laura” continues to be discussed in schools and performed onstage.

“Balagtasan” is still the local term for debates done in verses.

Authorities also renamed Baltazar’s birthplace as Balagtas.