Francisco Balagtas, The Shakespeare of The Philippines

Francisco Balagts y dela Cruz, son of Juan Balagtas and Juana dela Cruz was born April 2, 1788 on Bigaa, Bulacan. He was born during the time the Philippines is under the power of Spain. He was the youngest of the four children of his parents. His father was a blacksmith while his mother was an ordinary housewife.

When Francisco was a child, his intelligence was evident already. Unlike any other child, he spends most of his time on sensible things. Instead of playing with other children, Francisco spends his time listening to the conversations of elder people about the society, govenment and its problems. At a very young age, his eyes were opened to maltreatment of the Spaniards towards the Filipinos.

Francisco wanted to continue his education in Manila. But since they are poor his parents could not afford to send him to Manila. He worked as a slave for one of their relatives in Manila. In return, his relatives would provide what it needs to continue his education. He was able to study Gramatica Castellana, Gramatica Latina, Geografica, Fisica and Doctrina Cristiana. He also studied Filosofia, Teologia and Humanidades. Francisco proved that poverty cannot stop a person from learning.

When he was a young adult, he fell in love. The first to catch his attention was Magdalena Ana Ramos. He offered poems to Magdalena. He asked Jose dela Cruz, who is an expert when it comes to poems, to arrange and improve his poems but Jose refused to. Francisco went home disappointed. He decided to surpass what what Jose dela Cruz has accomplished. Not too long, Francisco was able to surpass Jose dela Cruz. He became famous because of his poems. His poems has always been enjoyed by the people especially the three ladies named Magdalena, Lucena and Biyanang who became his lovers (looks like Francisco Balagtas is also an expert when it comes to girls).

When Francisco moved to Pandakan on 1835, he met Maria Asuncion Rivera, who also became his lover. Unfortunately, Francisco was not the only one who loves Maria Asuncion. One of his rivals was a rich man named Mariano Capule. Mariano Capule gave money to those will stand as witnesses of Francisco’s alegations, which Mariano invented.

Francisco was sent to jail. While he was in jail, he wrote the poem Florante at Laura (Florante and Laura). The poem is about the love story of Florante and Laura. Besides the love story of the two, the poem is very rich in meaning. When he was freed from jail, he left Pandakan to forget his sad story in that place.

He moved to Udyong, Bataan. There he met Juana Tiambeng whom he married. He was 54 years old when he was courting Juana, who is only 20 years old (Francisco was definitely a lover boy)! For about 19 years of marriage, eleven children were born. But seven of them died when still a baby.

Francisco was sent to jail for the second time because of the rumor that he cut the hair of the slave of Alferez Lucas. During his sentence, his family was very poor. When he was freed after four years, he worked hard as a play writer to feed his family.

Unfortunately, a big tradegy happened on May 15, 1892. A big fire consumed many houses and properties including 2 of his chests containing more than 100 of his poems, plays, comedies, etc. History recorded some of his works, which are: Almansor at Rosalina, Nudo Gordeano, Don Nuño at Selinda, Clara Belmori, Auredato at Astrome, La India Elegante y El Negrito Amante, Abdol at Miserena, Rodolfo at Rosemonda, Mahomet at Constanza, Bayaceto at Dorlisca Claus. He died on February 20, 1862.