Francisco Balagtas' Most Famous Work

Two hundred and twenty-four years ago today, the life of the great Filipino poet Francisco Balagtas (born Francisco Baltazar y dela Cruz) began in the barrio of Panginay in Bigaa (now Balagtas), Bulacan. Balagtas ventured into a wide array of literary genres with the epic poem Florante at Laura standing out.

The plot of Florante at Laura may be a nearly-perfect material for a movie or television screenplay. It is as colorful as the life of the author itself, which will be tackled in a future blog.

A tale of romance blends with a story about political usurpation and redemption.

In 1949, the Philippines' LVN Pictures made a movie based on this work by Balagtas.

Opening title card

Celia Flor as Laura and Leopoldo Salcedo as Florante

The significance of the work may resonate in these times of religious intolerance: It highlights the friendship between Florante, the Albanian duke, and Aladin, the Persian prince.

Many educational institutions in the Philippines set Florante at Laura as required reading for the secondary curriculum.

An e-book version of this work may be accessed on the Project Gutenberg Web site.