Orion Mayor Antonio Raymundo said the opening of the cultural park in barangay Wawa coincides with the 227th birthday of the poet on April 2.
“May research na ginawa ang Komisyon sa Wikang Pilipino (KWP) na nagsasabing tuwing gagawa ng sulatin si Balagtas, pumupunta siya sa tabi ng dagat,” the mayor answered when asked why the monument was built near the sea.
Balagtas, author of many literary materpieces, one of them Florante at Laura, lived in Barangay Lati, village before Wawa-Pag-asa. Born in Bigaa, Bulacan on April 2, 1788, he stayed in Orion, then known as Udyong from 1840 to February 20, 1862 when he died at age 74.
“Mas pinili ni Balagtas sa Orion manirahan at dito nakapag- asawa. May tatlo siyang apo na na ang dalawa naging mayor ng Orion at ang isa pari,” Raymundo said.
Fr. Primitivo Baltazar became a parish priest of Orion while Luis and Jose Baltazar were the first and 13th mayor of the town, respectively.
The poet married Juana Tiambeng, a local beauty, in 1842 and had 11 children.
Raymundo said Senator Bam Aquino and KWP chairman Virgilio Almario will grace the unveiling. An encampment of a big number of youth in Central Luzon and from Zamboanga City, sponsored by Senator Aquino, follows the next day at the Orion Elementary School, he said.
Isagani de Leon, Human Resource Management Officer of Orion, said a building at the side of the “Hardin ni Balagtas” will be known as Balagtas Library and Museum that will serve as repository of various memorabilia and literary works of the great poet.
He said that the project was in accordance with specifications of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
De Leon said that historical records showed that Balagtas worked as escribano or the equivalent of secretary in the Catholic church in Orion and as clerk of court in Balanga.
The poet was born with surname Balagtas but changed it to Baltazar after a Spanish governor-general ordered Filipinos to adopt Hispanic and native names from a masterlist, history records revealed.
