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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-11/collantes.webp" alt="Florentino Collantes" loading="lazy" />
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(Florentino Collantes (left) with Jose Corazon de Jesus)
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<p>
Collantes was among the group who organized the first <span class="news_link" title="Balagtasan is a debate in poetic verse named after Filipino poet Franciso Balagtas">Balagtasan</span> in 1925 in commemoration of the birth anniversary of Tagalog poet 

Francisco Balagtas Baltazar on April 2, 1925.  Held in Tayuman, Manila, four days of Balagtas' birth anniversary, the first ever  <i>Balagtasan</i> included  writers Rosa Sevilla and Jose Corazon de Jesus.
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<p>
Florentino Collantes and Corazon de Jesus emerged as the most popular among several pairs of poets who joined the literary joust debating the subject 

<i>"Bulalak ng Lahing Kalinis-linisan"</i> (Flower of the Pure Race).  Although Collantes was not acclaimed as <i>“Hari ng Balagtasan”</i> 

(King of the Balagtasan) which De Jesus bagged, he gained national fame as a poet.
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<p>
Collantes' most memorable work, <i>“Ang Lumang Simbahan”</i>,  became so popular that he expanded it into a novel which was later turned into 

a movie starring actress <i>Mary Walter</i>. The movie has been acclaimed as a classic in the Philippine Cinema.
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October 16, 1896: Florentino Collantes was born in Pulilan, Bulacan