i-Listen with Kara David: The movie-like story of Nestor Quilat

I-LISTEN WITH KARA DAVID

SEPTEMBER 23, 2025 ON YOUTUBE, SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC

EPISODE 2: THE MOVIE-LIKE STORY OF NESTOR QUILAT

Can a man who has been jailed more than twenty times truly change?

That is the almost cinematic story of Nestor Quilat, a former PDL whose life was transformed, not just by the system, but by faith itself.

In his interview with Kara David, Nestor opened up about the haunting beginnings of his life. He was only five years old when he witnessed his own family murdered right before his eyes, by their very own kin. Traumatized and alone, he ran away and found himself wandering the streets.

That’s where his survival story began. Just to eat, he would steal eggs from bus terminals. Many times he was caught, beaten, and even jailed, though still a child. The streets became his only home; himself, his only family.

As he grew older, he smuggled himself aboard a ship bound for Manila. In the city, he lost his way completely. He lived through theft, pickpocketing, and deception. He learned to sniff solvent, numbing both hunger and despair.

Time and again, he was arrested, yet somehow always managed to slip free until one act of pickpocketing finally landed him in prison for years. What he thought was the worst, life on the streets, was nothing compared to the cruelty inside a cell.

And yet, in that very place, where his dignity was stripped and his spirit crushed, he encountered God, the One he had never believed in.

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EPISODE 2: ANG MALA “GREEN BONES” NA KWENTO NI NESTOR QUILAT

Pwede pa kayang magbago ang isang taong mahigit dalawampung beses nang nakulong? Iyan ang mala-Green Bones na kwento ni Nestor Quilat, isang dating PDL na tuluyang binago ng Sistema at ng kanyang pananampalataya.

Sa panayam niya kay Kara David, ibinahagi ni Nestor ang malagim na pinagmulan ng kanyang buhay. Limang taong gulang siya nang masaksihan kung paanong pinaslang ang kanyang buong pamilya, ng sarili pa nilang kamag-anak. Dahil dito, napilitang siyang tumakas at magpalaboy-laboy sa kalsada.

Doon nagsimula ang kanyang pakikipagsapalaran. Para lang may makain, nagnanakaw siya ng itlog sa mga terminal ng bus. Madalas siyang mahuli at bugbugin ng mga tindero; minsan pa’y ipinapakulong kahit siya ay paslit pa lang. Sa kalsada siya lumaki, walang pamilya, kundi ang sarili lamang.

Nang magbinata, pumuslit siya sa isang barkong patungong Maynila. Sa siyudad, tuluyan na siyang naligaw ng landas. Nabuhay siya sa pagnanakaw, pandurukot, at panlilinlang. Natutong gumamit ng solvent para lang mapawi ang gutom at panandaliang makalimutan ang kanyang sitwasyon.

Maraming beses siyang nahuli ngunit muling nakakalaya, hanggang sa isang kaso ng pandurukot ang nagdala sa kanya sa kulungan nang pangmatagalan. Akala niya, pinakamalala na ang buhay-kalye; ngunit mas mabigat pala ang buhay sa loob ng piitan.

Ngunit sa mismong lugar na iyon, nakilala niya ang Panginoon, na dati’y hindi niya pinaniniwalaan. Ngayon, malaya na si Nestor. Isa na siyang pastor na umaalalay din sa persons deprived of liberty o PDL na katulad niyang minsan ding naligaw ng landas.