Balagtas 6.09

Balagtas is a first class urban municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the, it has a population of people.With the continuous expansion of Metro Manila, the municipality is now part of Manila's built up area which reaches San Ildefonso in its northernmost part. Balagtas is from Manila and is from Malolos City.Formerly known as Bigaa, it was renamed in honor of Filipino poet Francisco Balagtas. The MacArthur Highway bisects the municipality of Balagtas as this national road cuts northward to the Ilocos region. At the southern approach of the town from Manila is a modern, first class concrete bridge that crosses the Balagtas River. The river, navigable by banca and motor boats, empties into Manila bay after snaking through the town of Bulacan to the West which provides Balagtas' townsfolk with fish, shrimp, and other fresh water food.At the foot of the bridge, along the highway towards the North, is the town hall. In front of the town hall is spacious park where the monument of its hero, Francisco Balagtas is located. The town hall is surrounded by Spanish colonial type houses. Two hundred meters from the municipal hall is the barrio of Panginay, the birthplace of Francisco "Balagtas" Baltazar, for whom also "Balagtasan", a form of debate in versified Tagalog, was named. In reverence to the hero's deeds, the official name of Bigaa was changed to Balagtas through the legislative act sponsored by then Congressman, Teodulo Natividad.