CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan — Bulakenyos will have extended holidays after the Holy Week as the Office of the President declared the birth anniversary of the Bulakenyo poet and orator Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar on April 2, 2018, as a special non-working day in the province of Bulacan.
In accordance with Proclamation No. 454 signed by Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea dated March 20, 2018, “it is but fitting and proper that the people of the Province of Bulacan be given full opportunity to celebrate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies”.
Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado said the youth should never forget the great legacy of Balagtas – his poetry.
Moreover, the municipality of Balagtas will have a mass to be followed by a wreath-laying activity at the monument of Baltazar in front of their municipal hall to give honor to the great poet whom they named their town after.
Balagtas is known as “Prinsipe ng Manunulang Tagalog” (Prince of Tagalog Poets) and considered as the “William Shakespeare of the Philippines” in reference to the English poet and playwright widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.
“Florante at Laura”, regarded as the defining work of Balagtas, is considered as one of the foundations of Philippine literature. (PNA)
