Karen Bordador recounts ordeal in prison in MMK

Having experienced it herself, former Pinoy Big Brother housemate Karen Bordador lamented that the justice system in the Philippines is “very slow” and “clearly not fair.”

In 2016, Karen, a radio DJ and a model at that time, was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Pasig City, along with her boyfriend Emilio Lim. She spent five years in prison and was acquitted last year due to inconsistencies between the testimonies and closed-circuit television footage presented in court.

Now that she is out, she hopes to inspire people and help improve the justice system.

“I’m here to inspire people, to help out the system na para mapabilis and also mawala yung judgements sa mga taong nakakulong, na hindi po lahat ng tao na nasa loob ay may kasalanan,” explained Karen during a virtual media conference for Maalaala Mo Kaya’s (MMK) two-part International Women’s Month special featuring her prison ordeal.

“We should give them (persons deprived of liberty or PDLs) priority because when I was inside the jail, there was barely any help and the facility was not at par,” she added. “Ang 35 na dapat na selda ng population, it plummeted up to 80. I experienced a situation where it was not even supposed to be that way. So I wanna open the eyes of people, people that matter, and people that can contribute to helping out all the prisoners. Hopefully, madaming mapalabas dito and makatulong ako sa sistema.”

There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to fix the country’s justice system, she admitted. But generally, “increasing more judges, having more public attorneys that would really fight for their clients (detainees) and having more budget or to be allocating the budget and using it for what it should be” are the ways she believes will improve the system.

For Karen, being in prison could be a punishment, but at the same time, it could also be “empowering the people inside and give them a better outlook about life.” She furthered, “Many of them (PDLs) are not educated at all kaya napupunta sila sa loob. They are even unaware kung bakit nandun sila sa loob.”

She also stressed the importance of family as the basic unit of the society. “Start off with your family first — having core values in our family, giving education towards children and being able to bring them up in a good environment,” she said. “I think firstly that’s what we should do and the justice system will follow through.”

When asked to comment whether the current administration has successfully implemented its war on drugs, Karen refused to speak about it but said, “My story is to inspire people and to let everyone know that we should not judge others from what they hear but rather from that person knowing their story.”

She also criticized the so-called cancel culture. “It’s rampant. It’s too much. People should not judge others definitely kasi that can really put them in a very bad situation,” she cautioned.

Karen did not feel “robbed” of five years of her life during the time spent in prison. Rather, she “stepped out of jail with gratitude and appreciation of this world.” She chose to look at the brighter days ahead than dwell on the past. “Without any hate or form of revenge in my heart… I went all through that, ‘What am I gonna do now? How am I gonna make a difference in this world?’ Yes, five years were gone pero these five years I spent each and every day enriching myself. There are good things that came out, I will not say that all were negative.”

She mused, “Yes, I was physically imprisoned but I was flying. I was free inside, in my heart, in my head, in my soul and spirit. I (have) never grown that much in a day,” adding that she was “able to really grow in terms of being a person.”

Fast forward to today, she is “just living out every single thing that I’ve written down on my dream board.” One of them is sharing her story to MMK.

“(I believe that) andaming blessings na darating kasi, quote and quote, andaming nawala. Hindi naman talaga nawala, sinabi lang ni Lord (na) be patient, it is coming. And when it comes, you’re gonna be extra grateful and you’re gonna move mountains. Wherever God places you in, that’s where you’re supposed to be,” she uttered.

Kaila Estrada portrays Karen in the two-part episodes (March 12 and 19) directed by Raz dela Torre. Joining Kaila in this episode are Karen, Lou Yanong and Shamaine Buencamino.

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