Rey Valera, Rod Vera honored with ‘Dangal ni Balagtas’ award

ORION, Bataan — The coastal village of Pag-asa Wawa here, also known as “Hardin ni Balagtas” (Garden of Balagtas), was silent witness to the solemn ceremony that conferred on singer-songwriter Rey Valera and playwright Rodolfo “Rody” Vera the “Dangal ni Balagtas” award.

The award, which is given to Filipinos who have helped promote the Filipino language, was handed to Valera and Vera by national artist Virgilio Almario, chair of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), during the commemoration of the 231st birth anniversary of the late Tagalog poet Francisco Balagtas on April 2.

Valera began his career in show business in the late 1970s when he recorded his first single “Ako si Superman,” which he composed for the late singer Rico J. Puno. He also wrote the iconic song “Mr. DJ” for actress Sharon Cuneta.

A native of Bulacan province, Valera is known for other hit songs he wrote for popular singers. Some of his songs had been used in movies and soap operas.

Vera, on the other hand, is known for his original plays, translations or adaptations of local and international literary works, screenplays and written materials for television, books and anthologies.

Almario, who spoke at the commemoration program at Orion Elementary School here, encouraged the youth and local officials to love and use the Filipino language like Balagtas did.

Balagtas was born in Bigaa, Bulacan, on April 2, 1788, but had resided in Orion until his death in 1862 at age 74.

According to the KWF, previous recipients of the Dangal ni Balagtas award were Lamberto Antonio (2013), Teodoro Antonio (2014), Rogelio Mangahas (2015), Jose Lacaba (2016), Lualhati Bautista (2017), Ruth Elynia Mabanglo (2017) and Ricardo Lee (2018).

In Bulacan, students competed for the annual “Balagtasan,” the poem debate in verse, named after Balagtas. Now on its third year, the verses duel was organized by the town government in honor of Balagtas. —Reports from Greg Refraccion and Carmela Reyes-Estrope