Balagtasan-rap hybrid contest celebrates Tagalog poetic debate’s centenary, continues oral tradition

Ten groups showed their mettle on spoken word, poetic speech and debate in the afternoon of 6 April for the grand finals of CCP Kanto Kultura: Baraptasan 2024 at the Rizal Park Open Air Auditorium in Manila, reliving the heyday of the balagtasan, which became century-old on that day.

Spearheaded by Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and first of its kind, Baraptasan was a competition on balagtasan and rap, or a combination of both, thus its name, a portmanteau of the two, both oral forms of entertainment and literature, but one is native and old and the other, modern and Western but adopted by many performers around the world, including the Philippines. Also, both involve debate and some form of versification and are inspired by older forms and emanate from bardic tradition.

Both a theatrical and literary form and practice, the balagtasan is a scripted public debate in poetic or versified speech with a structure, inspired by the traditional duplo, a folk drama performed during funeral wakes. The first balagtasan was held on 6 April 1924, organized by a group of writers and language advocates to celebrate the birth anniversary of one of the foremost Tagalog poets, Francisco Baltazar or Balagtas, which is on 2 April.

According to National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario, who was the special guest at Baraptasan, there were several events that led to the 6 April event, such as the meeting at Instituto de Mujeres in Tondo, Manila.

“Unang dapat niyong malaman na ang plano para sa 6 April ay ginawa ng isang grupo na mga Tagalista noong 24 March 1924. Ito ay ‘yung Akademya ng Wikang Tagalog, isa sa mga aktibong kapisanan ng mga Tagalista. At doon ay dumalo, sabi ni [Bartolome] Del Valle, ang ilang taong kilala natin ngayong sikat — si Lope K. Santos, si Iñigo Ed. Regalado, si Patricio A. Dionisio… si Deogracias A. Rosario, si Teodoro E. Gener, si Maximo Sevilla, si Rosario Sevilla Alvero, ‘yung may-ari ng Instituto de Mujeres, si Jose Corazon de Jesus, at si Florentino Collantes. Wala doon sa nagplano si Amado V. Hernandez (First thing you have to know is that the plan for 6 April was conceived by a group of Tagalog language advocates on 24 March 1924. This is the Academy of the Tagalog Language, one of the active groups of Tagalog language advocates. There, according to [Bartolome] Del Valle, several persons who are famous now attended — Lope K. Santos, Iñigo Ed. Regalado, Patricio A. Dionisio…Deogracias A. Rosario, Teodoro E. Gener, Maximo Sevilla, Rosario Sevilla Alvero, the owner of Instituto de Mujeres, Jose Corazon de Jesus and Florentino Collantes. Amado V. Hernandez was not there),” he related.

He also said that the group decided to change their way of celebrating the birth anniversary of Balagtas, and that Dionisio suggested to mount a poetic debate, which was then named balagtasan in honor of the poet by Tagalog poet and fictionist Jose N. Sevilla.

Almario also said that they chose the date because it was a day of no school and work so that many could attend their program. Three pairs of poets participated in the first balagtasan

— Amado V. Hernandez and Guillermo Holandez, Rafael Olay and Tomas de Jesus, and De Jesus and Collantes.

De Jesus portraying a butterfly and Collantes portraying a bee debated on who between them is rightful to love the “Bulaklak ng Lahing Kalinis-linisan” (Flower of the Purest Race). The two ended up equally competent, and there were subsequent rematches, which proved to be very popular among audiences. In one rematch in 1925 at the Olympic Stadium, the two debated on the topic “Ang Dalagang Filipina, Noon at Ngayon” (The Filipino Maiden, Then and Now), and De Jesus, also known for his penname Huseng Batute, was ultimately declared the first Hari ng Balagtasan. The two would have more rematches until De Jesus died.

Almario noted the revival of the poetic debate in a modernized version, the Baraptasan, and encouraged meticulous documentation for literary history and as not to suffer from situation similar to the telling of the history of balagtasan, which severely lacks documentation.

Because of De Jesus and Collantes, the balagtasan became popular, staged at big theaters as well as in town plazas, and having versions in other languages, but it eventually declined in popularity as other forms of entertainment rose.

Almario noted the revival of the poetic debate in a modernized version, the Baraptasan, and encouraged meticulous documentation for literary history and so as not to suffer from situation similar to the telling of the history of balagtasan, which severely lacks documentation.

The 10 finalist groups, most of which having three members and coming from different provinces in the country, who competed at Baraptasan were Rapper sa Pinas from Bocaue, Bulacan, composed of Oliver Almidin Monindero, Ernesto Canoy Jr. and Fernando Melencio Jr; Harayasista from Labo, Camarines Norte, composed of John Earnest M. Evidor, Anynel L. Garino, and James Son E. De la Cruz; Bagong Koronadal Advocates from Koronadal City, South Cotabato, composed of Jon Van Esmael T. Lapu, Angel Faith P. Leal and Philip Jay P. Leaño; Ang Mga Supling ni Angela Tabaco City, Albay, composed of Jan Carl B. Campit, Francis B. Balingbing and Kirschen Xyvrl I. Balajadia; Lakbay Iral from Dasmariñas City, Cavite, composed of Aaron Vincent G. Jimenez, Louie Ross P. Reyes and Gabriel Angelo Pedrosa; El Setecientos from Santa Rosa, Laguna, composed of John Arkhi Corpuz, Miguel Bardaje and Raynald Simon; Tagapagtaguyod ng Literatura at Wika or TANGLAW from Ilocos Sur, composed of Schulamight Kate C. Manzano, Edlyn Joy M. Baniqued and Deprisse Andre Guco; Waraptasan from Tacloban City, Leyte, composed of James Lorie Leala, Kenneth Cinco and Maria Regina Babon; BarapBida Normalista also from Tacloban, composed Wally O. Concepcion, Dave Anthony C. Padel, and Ray Vincent R. Padiwan; and DMD from Makati City, composed of John Dave P. Rosimo, Marielle Lou C. Bernardo and Reynaldo S. Bernardo.

The finalists debated on the pros and cons of social media with the topic, “Nakakatulong ba ang social media sa pag-unlad ng kaisipan ng mamamayan, oo o hindi? (Does social media help in developing people’s minds, yes or no?)”

Two groups tied for the third place — DMD and Harayasista.

DMD members are young performers, who have been joining rap competitions. The Bernardo couple are members of rapper group Champion Paikot, but would sometimes join contests as a duo. The group’s name are made up of their initials. On the other hand, Harayasista is created by Angel Yasis, who serves as coach to present members. Member Evidor became interested in Baraptasan because he loves music and poetry, and is fascinated with the combination of rap and balagtasan.

Mga Supling ni Angela clinched the second place. The group’s name is a homage to Filipino poet, Angela Manalang Gloria, who hailed from the city, and the group members want to make their city more known on the national stage.

Declared champion was Bagong Koronadal Advocates, composed of working students and full-time storytellers, who share a love for theater.

The winners were judged on “kahusayan ng pagtalakay sa paksa” or effectiveness in discussing the subject (35 percent); “kahusayan

sa paggamit ng rap at balagtasan” or proficiency in rap or balagatasan (35 percent); and “kahusayan ng pagtatanghal” or performance (35 percent).

Winners were awarded cash prizes of P300,000 for champion, P200,000 for second place and P100,000 for the third place. The rest of the finalists received P50,000 each.

Aside from the contest, Baraptasan program was also a way to showcase the different forms of poetic debates in the country — traditional balagtasan, crissotan, bukanegan and rap battle

— interspersed with performances from The Righteous One (Joshua Martin Berenguer), Nocturnal Dance Company and Morobeats.

The traditional balagtasan was performed by three students from Labo National High School in Labo, Camarines Norte, who won at the “Diwang: Sagisag Kultura ng Filipinas Festival’s” balagtasan competition of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts in 2021 and 2022. They debated on continuing the K-to-12 curriculum.

The popularity of balagtasan during its heyday inspired other versions in other languages such as the Pampangan crissotan, created by Amado Yuzon in 1926 and named after Juan Crisostomo Soto, known for his penname Crissot, nineteenth-century playwright, poet and theater director from Bacolor, Pampanga.

Engaging in crissotan were poets Francisco Guinto from Macabebe, Sergio Calayag from Bamban and Romeo Rodriguez from San Fernando City of Akademyang Kapampangan, with their performance, “Sucat la o e Sucat Maquialam Ding Pengari Caring Talasaua Dang Anac?”

Another group performed the bukanegan, another form inspired by the balagtasan. This version in Ilocano, the language of the Ilocos Region and a lingua franca of northern Luzon, was named after 17th century Ilocano or Itneg poet Pedro Bukaneg, widely considered as the “Father of Ilocano Literature,” and to whom the epic Biag ni Lam-ang is attributed.

The group, Tres Tarappaits, debated on the topic, “Asino kaykayatmo a makatakunaynay: Nasirib ken baknang a lakay wenno ubing a baro a guapo a maiturong-turongmo?” (Who will you pick as your consort for life, a rich and intelligent old man or a young and handsome man but a pushover?)

The group — composed of writers Leilanie Gaspar Adriano from Laoag City, Ilocos Norte; Estela Bisquera Guerrero from Baguio City; and Aileen Rambaud from Pinili, Ilocos Norte

— started in 2009 through a program to promote poetry performance, Daniw ken Basi, of GUMIL Filipinas (Gunglo dagiti Mannurat nga Ilokano iti Filipinas ken Ballasiw-taaw), an association of Ilocano writers.

After these older forms, a rap battle ensued between Antonio Bathan and Viton Sabino, showing how literature in oral and performative forms still live on to this day.