BARAPTASAN 2024 grand finals set on April 6
Jose Corazon de Jesus (Huseng Batute), the writer who penned the Tagalog lyrics to the song “Bayan Ko,” was the same person who took part, along with Florentino Collantes, in the very first balagtasan held at Instituto de Mujeres in Manila in 1924. This event was staged as a tribute to the country’s foremost poet during that time, Francisco Balagtas, the writer of “Florante at Laura”—so it’s understandable that it was also named after him.