Did you know: Poet Florentino Collantes

The late poet and fictionist Florentino Collantes was born on Oct. 16, 1896. Known as one of the first Tagalog poets who used poetry for political criticism during the American period, he was said to be the literary rival of Jose Corazon de Jesus (Huseng Batute). De Jesus and Collantes debated at the first Balagtasan, a debate in verse, which was held in 1924 at the Instituto de Mujeres (Women’s Institute) in Tondo, Manila. He died on June 18, 1951.—Schatzi Quodala, Inquirer Research