Let me share with you the explanation of Prof. Tomas C. Ongoco why Florante in Florante and Laura of Francisco Baltazar should be spelled with "P" not with "F":
Why Plorante with a "P?"
Why do we spell Plorante with a "P" instead of an "F?" The stanzas below give the answer:
170 "Narinig ko pa halos hanggang ngayon
palayaw na tawag ng ama kong poon
noon ako'y batang kinakandong-kandong
taguring Plorante, bulaklak kong bugtong.
180 "Ito ang ngalan ko mulang pagkabata
nagisnan sa ama't inang inandukha,
pamagat na ambil sa lumuha-luha
at kayakap-yakap ng madlang dalita."
Line 4 of 179 stanza (first stanza) admits that Duke Briseo used to call his son Plorante as "bulaklak kong bugtong." Bulaklak is flora in Spanish. But "bulaklak kong bugtong" is a Filipino cliche meaning "only son" in English or "solo hijo" in Spanish. It is "kaisa-isang anak" in plain Tagalog. No allusion to flower or tenderness.
In stanza 180, on the other hand, Balagtas expalains the name of Plorante as "pamagat na ambil sa lumuha-luha at kayakap-yakap ng madlang dalita." "Pamagat" and "ambil" are synonyms of "aka," "alias" or "appelation" of lumuha-luha (almost always in tears). Llorar is Spanish of "to cry" but in earlier days the word form was plorar. The name Plorante, obviously, is the masculine of Dolores.
Source: Tomas C. Ongoco, Plorante at Laura , Alberto Enrico Educational center. 2005 p. 200
