Balagtasan

The balagtasan is a debate in poetic verse. It was created during the American C
olonization of the Philippines, inspired by old forms of Philippine verse debate
like the karagatan, Juego de Prenda and the duplo. Its name comes from the orig
inal surname of Francisco Baltazar, Balagtas, having been created to honor his b
irth anniversary.
History
The first balagtasan was held on 6 April 1924. Three sets of poets participated
using scripted defenses. The debate between Jos Corazn de Jess and Florentino Colla
ntes was particularly impressive and the organizers decided to set up another ba
lagtasan for the two distinguished poets, this time requiring improvised defense
s. This was held on 18 October 1925, at the Olympic Stadium in Manila. De Jesus
won the title of the first Hari ng Balagtasan (King of Balagtasan). Since then,
balagtasan became a popular pastime until after World War II. Poets in other lan
guages of the Philippines created their own versions like the Ilocano bukanegan
(named after Ilocano poet Pedro Bukaneg) and the Pampango crisotan (named after
Pampango poet-dramatist Juan Crisostomo Soto).