New edition of ‘Florante at Laura’ out

Under the auspices of the Samahang Balagtas, led by Sen. Blas Ople, the nation commemorated yesterday the 214th birth anniversary of national poet Francisco "Balagtas" Baltazar with the launching of a new, modernized edition of Balagtas’ epic poem Florante at Laura in simple ceremonies at the Manila Hotel.

The new, modern edition of Florante at Laura was edited by poet and University of the Philippines scholar Virgilio Almario.

Through a Malacañang proclamation, the day was celebrated as a special non-working holiday in Bulacan, Balagtas’ birthplace, and in Pandacan, Manila, where he wrote his master work, as well as in Orion, Bataan, where he married and died.

In his message at the book launching, Ople said Balagtas deserves a higher place in the national pantheon as one of the founding fathers of the Filipino nation and the Philippine Republic, as acknowledged by Jose Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Andres Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini.

The launching of the new Florante at Laura also featured the release of Ople’s latest book, Nation-building through Language, which covers his writings on the national language for over a decade.

The modern edition of Balagtas’ poem as well as Ople’s book were both published by the Institute for Public Policy.