It was on this day, in 1924, on a hot dry summer afternoon in the Philippines, that people began to flock to a school building in Tondo, Manila, to witness a momentous event.
*Poster of Instituto de Mujeres, an exclusive girls’ school, where the first Balagtasan was held.
It would be the first ever poetic debate rooted in the rich and lively Tagalog poesia (poetry). Even our modern day Spoken Word Poetry in the hidden enclaves of the indie scene in Metro Manila does not even come close to this. No. Think of how rattled and excited Filipinos get when it comes to boxing, or basketball. Think of how the latest punch, or the latest basketball game, would be the talk of every street, and every corner in the Philippines. Perhaps what comes close to this would be the modern-day rap showdowns in the underground—always down to earth, produces hisses, boos, and cheers, and captures and grips the imagination of the audience surrounding the two rappers. The verve, the energy, the passion, the words that rhyme and dignifies the struggle of the everyday Filipino.
This “new” way of doing versified debate was to be called the Balagtasan.
In its heyday, Balagtasan was such that its influence flowed out into society in surprising ways. Take for example a fist fight in 21 March 1929, that made it into the newspaper, The Tribune. Two brothers, Domingo and Godofredo Arca, got beaten up by “a mob of twenty admirers” or fans of the famous Balagtasan poet. An excerpt of the news clip said:
The source of the [fight] was last night’s balagtasan at the stadium between Batute, Raymundo and Esguerra on the one hand and Gatmaitan, Hernandez and Caravana on the other. The judges gave a draw decision but the great majority of the people thought the Batute’s team should have won.
Note that the Balagtasan was held in a stadium. Records note that the largest Balagtasan audience gathered was on 16 October 1925, in Olympic Stadium, in Avenida Rizal, where 8,000 to 15,000 people attended to witness this poetic “joust”. Senators, people from the academe, government officials, and even Emilio Aguinaldo himself attended. Jose Corazon de Jesus, more popularly known by his pseudonym “Huseng Batute,” won in that match and was given the title, Hari ng Balagtasan (King of Balagtasan).
*Interior of Teatro Zorilla, used to be located in Calle Iris (now Recto Avenue, Manila). This was one of the theaters used to host numerous Balagtasan events. Photo from Philippines, My Philippines Facebook.
But what is in Balagtasan that has caught the attention and devotion of a generation of Filipinos?
Balagtasan had nothing to do with the famous Filipino poet, Francisco Balagtas (1788-1862).
In fact, Balagtasan was created in 1924, 62 years after the death of Balagtas. It was drawn from the deep wells of Filipino tradition and literature, not only to give tribute to Francisco Balagtas whose birth anniversary fell on 2 April, whom all poets in that year acknowledge as a pioneer Filipino writer of Tagalog poetry, but also to push back the then prevailing American influence on Filipinos when the United States wrested possession of the Philippines from Filipinos beginning in 1899.
And so, in March 1924, the group of Filipino poets, Kapulungang Balagtas, met with the intention of creating a new way of doing poetry by means of arguing. Lope K. Santos’ idea was to transform the tradition of Duplo into one that would encapsulate Filipino realities and influence the public square and at the same time promote Tagalog poetry and strengthen the language. But as the discussion of the group progressed, Duplo was found to be quite inappropriate for Balagtas’ birth anniversary. You see, it was only done during the wake and in honor of someone who just died—a form of entertainment for the grieving family and friends. It was usually held in the backyard of the house where the wake was held. Duplo could also get confusing as there were no defined topic being discussed. Patricio Dionisio suggested that this duplo, should it honor Balagtas, should be named after him. Jose Sevilla came up with the name “Balagtasan.”
Rules were set for Balagtasan. We would see here that the original Balagtasan was not purely extemporaneous. Dionisio wrote the script for the poetic joust. But the script was meant to provide direction, and was open for adlib in the actual delivery. There was a flow in the two opposing arguments and a set of roles. There would be two poets, each with their own unfinished script, whose skill would be, to quickly utter a stanza of his argument in answer to that of his opponent. When the argument becomes cyclical, the poet has a stanza reserved to break the stalement. There was a lakandiwa (male poet) or lakambini (female poet) stood as moderator, and a topic would be set. There would also be a set of judges—poets of renown—who would judge from the delivery of the arguments who deserve the title of Hari ng Balagtasan. April 2 fell on a Wednesday, and Kapulungang Balagtas figured that in order to get more audience, the Balagtasan should be scheduled on a weekend. And so it was decided that the first Balagtasan was to be held on 6 April 1924, Sunday. Ads came out on 5 April at the weekly Bagong Lipang Kalabaw with a by-line, “Ibig-Sumali-Kung-Maaari”.
And so on this same day, in 1924, the first Balagtasan was held. Six Filipino poets registered, divided into three groups. The first group—Rafael Olay and Tomas L. De Jesus; the second—Amado V. Hernandez and Guillermo Holandez with the topic “Binatang Nayon laban sa Binatang Lungsod”, and the third—Jose Corazon de Jesus and Florentino Collantes with the topic, “Bulaklak ng Lahing Kalinisan.” With a great command of the Tagalog language, and with a quick retort with rhyme and measurement, the poets pulled out their strength with wit and words, and even humor, that left the audience laughing.
*Jose Corazon de Jesus (Right) and Florentino Collantes (Left). From GMA News Site.
But perhaps on that day, what was most remembered was the Balagtasan between De Jesus (as Paruparo or Butterfly) and Collantes (as Bubuyog or Bee). The argument set was who among them, butterfly and bee, deserve the beautiful flower, reminiscent of two Filipino men trying to win the hand of a Filipina. De Jesus won, and was bestowed the first Hari ng Balagtasan title.
*Portrait of Jose Corazon de Jesus (Huseng Batute)
Jose Corazon de Jesus would then rise as the famous Huseng Batute. Through the years, Collantes would be able to wrest the Balagtasan crown from him, and vice versa.
The rivalry between the two was legendary, but perhaps, De Jesus had the last laugh.
He passed away in 1932 holding the title. A poet-king indeed.
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