The balisong was commonly used by Filipinos, especially those in the Tagalog region, as a self-defense and pocket utility knife. A common stereotype is that a Batangueño  carries one everywhere he or she goes. Hollow-ground balisongs were also used as straight razors before conventional razors were available in the Philippines. In the hands of a trained user, the knife blade can be brought to bear quickly using one hand. Manipulations, called "flipping", are performed for art or amusement. Blunt versions of these knives, called "trainers", are for sale to practice tricks without the risk of injury.

The knife is now illegal or restricted in some countries, often under the same laws and for the same reasons that switchblades or concealed weapons are restricted, and in their country of origin they are no longer as common in urban areas as they were.

Alternatively, the balisong is also known worldwide as the butterfly or fan knife after the way its two handles open from being a compact tool with the blade hidden. It is also sometimes called the Batangas knife, likely because its manufacture is an industry in the province but most particularly in Taal, where there is even a village called Balisong.
There is a village in the heritage town of Taal in Batangas that is named after the Batangas knife.

The subsequent growth in popularity of the balisong worldwide, and particularly so in the United States, was down to soldiers of the United States Sixth and Eighth Armies who participated in operations to liberate Batangas from Japanese rule in the forties as well as post-war reparation efforts afterwards. Many of these soldiers, upon their return to the United States after the war, brought home with them balisongs probably as souvenirs.

Although the debate continues about where the first butterfly knife was actually created, that it matters is probably less significant. After all, the word balisong has found its way into English dictionaries and is frequently described in worldwide web sites as a Filipino knife manufactured in Batangas. Hardly anyone, if at all, calls it a European knife.

According to www.batangashistory.date