Bataan observes Balagtas Day
Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar was born in Bigaa, Bulacan on April 2, 1788. He moved to Orion, Bataan in 1840 and worked as a clerk of court.
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines — It’s a special non-working holiday today in Bataan in observance of the 220th birth anniversary of the great Filipino poet and orator Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar.
Baltazar was born in Bigaa, Bulacan on April 2, 1788. He moved to Orion, Bataan in 1840 and worked as a clerk of court.
He married a local woman, Juana Tiambeng, with whom he had four children.
The poet lived in Orion from 1840 until his death in 1862 at the age of 74.
Local officials will hold a program at the Hardin ni Balagtas in Barangay Wakas, where a bronze statue of the poet stands.
One of Baltazar’s masterpieces was the poem Florante at Laura, which is being taught to high school students.
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