Francisco Balagtas y de la Cruz
                      (April 2, 1788 – February 20, 1862), also known as Francisco Baltazar, was a prominent Filipino poet, and is widely considered as one of the greatest Filipino literary laureate for his impact on Filipino literature. The famous epic, Florante at Laura, is regarded as his defining work.

The name "Baltazar", sometimes misconstrued as a pen name, was a legal surname Balagtas adopted after the 1849 edict of Governor-GeneralNarciso Claveria y Zaldua, which mandated that the native population adopt standard Spanish surnames instead of native ones.

  

LIFE AS A POET   

Balagtas learned to write poetry from José de la Cruz (Huseng Sisiw), one of the most famous poets of Tondo, in return of chicks. It was de la Cruz himself who personally challenged Balagtas to improve his writing. Balagtas swore he would overcome Huseng Sisiw as he would not ask anything in return as a poet. (source: Talambuhay ng mga Bayani, for Grade 6 textbook)

In 1835, Balagtas moved to Pandacan, where he met María Asunción Rivera, who would effectively serve as the muse for his future works. She is referenced in Florante at Laura as 'Celia' and 'MAR'.

Balagtas' affections for MAR were challenged by the influential Mariano Capule. Capule won the battle for MAR when he used his wealth to get Balagtas imprisoned under the accusation that he ordered a servant girl's head be shaved. It was here that he wrote Florante at Laura—In fact, the events of this poem were meant to parallel his own situation.

He wrote his poems in Tagalog, during an age when Filipino writing was predominantly written in Spanish.

Balagtas published Florante at Laura upon his release in 1838. He moved to Balanga, Bataan in 1840 where he served as the assistant to the Justice of peace and later, in 1856, as the Major Lieutenant. He was also appointed as the translator of the court. He married Juana Tiambeng on July 22, 1842 in a ceremony officiated by Fr. Cayetano Arellano, uncle of future Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano. They had eleven children but only four survived to adulthood.

He died on February 20, 1862 at the age of 73. Upon his deathbed, he asked a favor that none of his children become poets like him, who had suffered under his gift as well as under others. He even went as far as to tell them it would be better to cut their hands off than let them be writers.

Balagtas is so greatly revered in the Philippines that the term for Filipino debate in extemporaneous verse is named after him: Balagtasan.

   WORKS

• Orosmán at Zafira – a komedya (a Filipino theater form evolved from the Spanish comedia) in four parts
• Don Nuño at Selinda – a komedya in three parts
• Auredato at Astrome – a komedya in three parts
• Clara Belmore – a komedya in three parts
• Abdol at Misereanan – a komedya, staged in Abucay in 1857
• Bayaceto at Dorslica – a komedya in three parts, staged at Udyong on September 27, 1857
• Alamansor at Rosalinda – a komedya staged at Udyong during the town's feast
• La India elegante y el negrito amante – a short play in one part
• Nudo gordeano
• Rodolfo at Rosemonda
• Mahomet at Constanza
• Claus (translated into Tagalog from Latin)
• Florante at Laura, an awit (metrical narrative poem with dodecasyllabic quatrains [12 syllables per line, 4 lines per stanza]); Balagtas' masterpiece

  

                                      

FLORANTE AT LAURA

  Florante at Laura (full title: Pinagdaanang Buhay nina Florante at Laura sa Kahariang Albanya: Kinuha sa madlang "cuadro histórico" o pinturang nagsasabi sa mga nangyayari nang unang panahon sa Imperyo ng Gresya, at tinula ng isang matuwain sa bersong Tagalog; English: "The History of Florante and Laura in the Kingdom of Albania: Adapted from some "historical pictures" or paintings that tell of what happened in early times in the Greek Empire, and were set to rhyme by one delighting in Tagalog verse") by Francisco Baltazar (more famously known as Francisco Balagtas) is considered as one of the masterpieces of Philippine literature.

Balagtas wrote the epic (classified as such despite its main characters' not possessing any extraordinary powers) during his imprisonment. He dedicated to his sweetheart María Asuncion Rivera, whom he nicknamed "M. A. R." and is referenced to as "Selya" in the dedication "Kay Selya" ("For Celia"). Rivera was later married to Balagtas' rival, Mariano Capule, who later leveled false charges against him.

• CHARACTERS;

• Florante – a duke of Albania and the main protagonist of the novel.
• Laura – Daughter of King Linceo of Albania. She is the love interest of Florante and is later married to him.
• Count Adolfo – Rival of Florante and the antagonist of the novel. Once a good friend to Florante during their time at the academy. His jealousy and envy towards Florante sparked his rebellion against the king. He was also responsible for the imprisonment of Florante. He was killed by Flerida as he attempted to rape Laura in his escape against the forces loyal to the king.
• Prince Aladin – Son of Sultan Ali-Adab of Persia. He saved Florante from being eaten by lions in the forest. Later, he marries his love interest Flerida.
• Flerida – Aladin's fiancée. She asked Sultan Ali-Adab to spare Prince Aladin's life on the condition that she will be Ali-Adab's wife. She later escaped and killed Count Adolfo as he attempted to rape Laura in the forest.
• Duke Briseo – Father of Florante and a nobleman of Albania. He was killed, along with King Linceo, by Count Adolfo during his usurpation of power. He was a very good father to Florante.
• Princess Floresca – Mother of Florante and the Princess of Crotone. She died while Florante was studying in Athens.
• King Linceo – King of Albania and the father of Princess Laura. A great ruler of Albania, he and Duke Briseo were killed by Count Adolfo during the latter's takeover.
• Sultan Ali-Adab – Sultan of Persia and the father of Prince Aladin. He sentenced his son to death because of cowardice in the battlefield. In exchange for Aladin's life, Flerida promised to marry the Sultan. After her escape, the Sultan committed suicide.
• Count Sileno – Father of Count Adolfo.
• Menalipo – Cousin of Florante. He saved Florante from vultures when they were younger.
• Menandro – Friend and confidant of Florante. They first met while they were studying in Athens and Menandro saved Florante from a young Adolfo's attempt to murder him. He and Florante shared military expedition. He led the overthrow of Count Adolfo and restored peace in Albania.
• Antenor – Professor of Florante, Menandro, and Adolfo in Athens. A good and wise teacher to Florante.
• General Osmalik – A general of Persia. He was killed by Florante during a military expedition.
• General Miramolin – A general of the Ottoman Empire. He was responsible for the invasion of Albania to bring the kingdom under the imperial officers who sacked Albania together with Aladin during the ongoing campaign of Florante and Menandro in Crotone. He nearly slew Laura for her refusal to love him but was defeated.

JOSE DE LA CRUZ

                        José de la Cruz (21 December 1746 – 12 March 1829),^[1] more popularly known as Huseng Sisiw, was one of the great Filipino writers during theSpanish regime. He was the mentor of Francisco Balagtas in poetry. He was born in Tondo, Manila.^[1]

He is given the honor of Hari ng mga makata (King of the poets), He was born on Tondo, Manila on December 20, 1746. He never studied but in his own efforts, he learned Katon at Cartilla, Doctrina Cristiana, Philosophy and Theology.

JOSE P. RIZAL                                the national hero of the Philippines and pride of the Malayan race, was born on June 19, 1861, in the town of Calamba, Laguna. He was the seventh child in a family of 11 children (2 boys and 9 girls). Both his parents were educated and belonged to distinguished families. His father, Francisco Mercado Rizal, an industrious farmer whom Rizal called "a model of fathers," came from Biñan, Laguna; while his mother, Teodora Alonzo y Quintos, a highly cultured and accomplished woman whom Rizal called "loving and prudent mother," was born in Meisic, Sta. Cruz, Manila. At the age of 3, he learned the alphabet from his mother; at 5, while learning to read and write, he already showed inclinations to be an artist. He astounded his family and relatives by his pencil drawings and sketches and by his moldings of clay. At the age 8, he wrote a Tagalog poem, "Sa Aking Mga Kabata," the theme of which revolves on the love of one’s language. In 1877, at the age of 16, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree with an average of "excellent" from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila. In the same year, he enrolled in Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas, while at the same time took courses leading to the degree of surveyor and expert assessor at the Ateneo. He finished the latter course on March 21, 1877 and passed the Surveyor’s examination on May 21, 1878; but because of his age, 17, he was not granted license to practice the profession until December 30, 1881. In 1878, he enrolled in medicine at the University of Santo Tomas but had to stop in his studies when he felt that the Filipino students were being discriminated upon by their Dominican tutors. On May 3, 1882, he sailed for Spain where he continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid. On June 21, 1884, at the age of 23, he was conferred the degree of Licentiate in Medicine and on June 19,1885, at the age of 24, he finished his course in Philosophy and Letters with a grade of "excellent." Having traveled extensively in Europe, America and Asia, he mastered 22 languages. These include Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Malayan, Portuguese, Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Tagalog, and other native dialects. A versatile genius, he was an architect, artists, businessman, cartoonist, educator, economist, ethnologist, scientific farmer, historian, inventor, journalist, linguist, musician, mythologist, nationalist, naturalist, novelist, opthalmic surgeon, poet, propagandist, psychologist, scientist, sculptor, sociologist, and theologian.He was an expert swordsman and a good shot. In the hope of securing political and social reforms for his country and at the same time educate his countrymen, Rizal, the greatest apostle of Filipino nationalism, published, while in Europe, several works with highly nationalistic and revolutionary tendencies. In March 1887, his daring book, NOLI ME TANGERE, a satirical novel exposing the arrogance and despotism of the Spanish clergy, was published in Berlin; in 1890 he reprinted in Paris, Morga’s SUCCESSOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS with his annotations to prove that the Filipinos had a civilization worthy to be proud of even long before the Spaniards set foot on Philippine soil; on September 18, 1891, EL FILIBUSTERISMO, his second novel and a sequel to the NOLI and more revolutionary and tragic than the latter, was printed in Ghent. Because of his fearless exposures of the injustices committed by the civil and clerical officials, Rizal provoked the animosity of those in power. This led himself, his relatives and countrymen into trouble with the Spanish officials of the country. As a consequence, he and those who had contacts with him, were shadowed; the authorities were not only finding faults but even fabricating charges to pin him down. Thus, he was imprisoned in Fort Santiago from July 6, 1892 to July 15, 1892 on a charge that anti-friar pamphlets were found in the luggage of his sister Lucia who arrive with him from Hong Kong. While a political exile in Dapitan, he engaged in agriculture, fishing and business; he maintained and operated a hospital; he conducted classes- taught his pupils the English and Spanish languages, the arts.The sciences, vocational courses including agriculture, surveying, sculpturing, and painting, as well as the art of self defense; he did some researches and collected specimens; he entered into correspondence with renowned men of letters and sciences abroad; and with the help of his pupils, he constructed water dam and a relief map of Mindanao - both considered remarkable engineering feats. His sincerity and friendliness won for him the trust and confidence of even those assigned to guard him; his good manners and warm personality were found irresistible by women of all races with whom he had personal contacts; his intelligence and humility gained for him the respect and admiration of prominent men of other nations; while his undaunted courage and determination to uplift the welfare of his people were feared by his enemies.When the Philippine Revolution started on August 26, 1896, his enemies lost no time in pressing him down. They were able to enlist witnesses that linked him with the revolt and these were never allowed to be confronted by him. Thus, from November 3, 1986, to the date of his execution, he was again committed to Fort Santiago. In his prison cell, he wrote an untitled poem, now known as "Ultimo Adios" which is considered a masterpiece and a living document expressing not only the hero’s great love of country but also that of all Filipinos. After a mock trial, he was convicted of rebellion, sedition and of forming illegal association. In the cold morning of December 30, 1896, Rizal, a man whose 35 years of life had been packed with varied activities which proved that the Filipino has capacity to equal if not excel even those who treat him as a slave, was shot at Bagumbayan Field.  Novels             During his stay in first stay in Europe, Rizal wrote his novel, Noli Me Tangere.The book was  written in Spanish and first published in Berlin, Germany in 1887. The Noli, as it is more  commonly known, tells the story of a young Filipino man who travels to Europe to study and  returns home with new eyes to the injustices and corruption in his native land. Rizal used elaborate characters to symbolize the different personalities and characteristics  of both the oppressors and the oppressed, paying notable attention to Filipinos who had  adopted the customs of their colonizers, forgetting their own nationality; the Spanish friars  who were portrayed as lustful and greedy men in robes who sought only to satisfy their own  needs, and the poor and ignorant members of society who knew no other life but that of one  of abject poverty and cruelty under the yoke of the church and state. Rizal’s first novel was  a scalding criticism of the Spanish colonial system in the country and Philippine society in  general, was met with harsh reactions from the elite, the church and the government. -