Joaquín Balmori y Rivera, a pioneer labor leader and the foremost organiser of labour unions in their Philippines, was his brother.

Before the war, under the pseudonym "Batikuling", Balmori wrote a column called "Vida Manileña" for La Vanguardia, a daily afternoon newspaper.

It was a trenchant critique of society’s power elite, showcasing his gift for irony and satirical humor, as well as serious verses.

He reached the pinnacle of his success as a poet in November 1938 when his Mi Casa de Nipa, a collection of his best poems, gave him the first prize in the national literary contests held under the auspices of the Commonwealth Government, as a part of its third anniversary celebration.

Critics began to notice his literary skills more when he joined a contest sponsored by El Renacimiento in commemoration of Rizal Day.

The themes of these novels revolved around the issues of sensuality, the privacy of morality, the existence of God, and man's limitations in society.