Francisco Baltazar (April 2, 1788 – February 20, 1862) was Filipino highly appreciated orator and poet. He is known also as Francisco Balagtas and is considered as “Filipinos William Shakespeare”. Balagtas learned to write poetry from José de la Cruz (Huseng Sisiw), one of the most famous poets of Tondo. In 1835, Balagtas moved to Pandacan, where he met Maria Asuncion Rivera, and [...]