MJ Rafal shared reports on “Tungkol sa mga Karatula ng Rali at Poot” at Kritika Kultura Lecture Series

On 22 August 2025, Kritika Kultura, in partnership with Ateneo de Manila’s Literary and Cultural Studies Program (LCSP) and PLUME, hosted a lecture by writer and scholar MJ Rafal titled “Ilan Pang Karagdagang Ulat: Tungkol sa mga Karatula ng Rali at Poot.”

Rafal holds an AB in History and an MA in Filipino from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), where he now teaches Filipino, Literature, and Creative Writing. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Entrada, the literary journal of the PUP Center for Creative Writing, and currently serves as the National Capital Region Representative to the National Committee on Literary Arts (NCLA) of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for the 2023–2025 term.

His works, spanning poetry, fiction, essays, research, and translation, have been published in various anthologies and journals, earning recognition from institutions such as the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, Inc. (MMAFI), the Sentro ng Wikang Filipino – University of the Philippines (SWF-UP), and the Professional Association of Literary Translators (PATAS). Rafal is currently pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines Diliman. 

In his lecture, Rafal opened by citing a social media post from National Artist Virgilio S Almario, expressing concern over the Israel-Palestine conflict and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Rafal contextualized this with the rise of global protest actions condemning Israel’s actions, emphasizing the role of rallies and collective outrage in drawing attention to humanitarian crises.

Transitioning to the Philippine context, Rafal discussed the country’s participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair, which he critiqued as problematic given the event’s perceived pro-Israel stance. He pointed out the contradiction between the Philippines’ cultural values and its involvement in such an international platform, highlighting the growing Boycott Frankfurt Book Fair movement.

Rafal ended his lecture with a question: “Wala ba talagang bisa ang rali at poot?” framing the tension between activism and institutional politics. He further stressed that calls for a boycott cannot be dismissed as merely personal. 

During the open forum, an audience member asked why Rafal chose to focus on Palestine above other issues. He responded that he was deeply affected by the livestreamed images of genocide and admitted his fear of imagining such atrocities happening to his own family.

The event concluded with the awarding of certificates, followed by closing remarks from Joseph Reylan Viray, Director of the Institute of Culture and Language Studies at Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and Dr Vincenz Serrano, Editor-in-Chief of Kritika Kultura.