[trigger warning: violence & death]
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It's a typical Saturday morning. A little girl in a red dress is sitting in front of a woman who's brushing her hair.
"Mama, is Papa on his way home already?" The little girl asks the woman.
"Hmm, maybe."
"Once Papa arrives, are we going to Disneyland?"
"Honey--" The woman said then pause for a moment. "--we'll go there, but not today. Mama and Papa have to work first and save money." The woman explained that makes the little girl quiet.
Silence filled the spaces between the two as the woman is now putting a hair clip on the little girl.
"Are you getting bored already? You can watch TV or play with your toys as we wait for Papa." The woman said as she stands up and put the comb she used in a bag.
"Hmmm, can I wait outside?"
"Okay, but don't go too far. Papa might be here in any minute."
The little girl rushed outside while the woman is busy on her phone. Minutes later, the woman put down her phone and turned on the TV. She keeps on changing the channel until she found this documentary about the country's anti-illegal drug program, Oplan Tokhang.
The documentary features a wife who just lose her husband on the campaign. They showed where the crime happened and how it affects their lives. Throughout the show, the wife keeps on saying that her husband never got involved with illegal drugs. She also promised to find the justice her husband deserves because on her understanding, it is unlawful. And Oplan Tokhang should focus only on drug personalities and not on innocent people.
The interviewer asked her to retell what exactly happened to her husband, which she willingly did. But she passed out while doing so. People panicked and freak out, her relatives stepped in and said that its because she's been starving herself since her husband died.
And as if its scheduled, the woman's phone ringed and the little girl runs her way back to the woman. The woman first attended the little girl then answered her phone.
"Mama, is that Papa? Is he coming home by now?" The little girl asked with full of excitement.
The woman then gave the phone to the little girl and take that chance to fix her hair and wipe her sweat. However, the excitement was broken as soon as the little girl bid her farewell to the person on the other line. A loud thud filled the room and a group of policemen went in with guns in their hands.
"Don't move!" A policeman shouted that makes the little girl and the woman scared.
"What's happening?" The woman asked to the policemen.
"You know what, we don't want to hurt you, but if you try to fight back then you'll leave us with no choice." Another policeman said then signaled something to his men that the woman and the little girl didn't understand.
Everything went fast; the police started ransacking the place. Scared and confused of what they are going to do, the woman followed one of the police.
"Please stop doing this! Where is your warrant? What did we do to you?" The woman shouted and started getting all the things that the police are throwing.
The little girl started to cry that attracts the attention of the woman. The woman then rushed to the little girl and hugged her.
"It's okay, baby. Don't cry. Stop crying, please." The woman said but even her bursts into tears too.
"Hey, you! Where did you hide it?" A policeman said then tugged the woman's hair who is still hugging the little girl.
But the woman just keeps on crying and whispering the phrase, "I don't know" as a response to the police.
Minutes later of grilling and some beating, the woman thought it is done already for some of the policemen are heading out of the house. Hope started to build up and the woman's now starting to think of an escape plan and a way to contact her husband. But all of it fade away when she heard a faint sound of fired gun.
While still in panic, the woman felt a thick substance flowing in her hands. Eyes widened when she realized that it is the little girl who got shot. The woman is now shaking and was about to look at the policemen when she, again, heard... and felt two gunshots.
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A man in a police uniform is passing on a street when he saw a colleague. Even though unaware of what is happening, the man started getting anxious. He continued walking when he saw a commotion building up on his way. People also are looking at him but will avoid his gaze as soon as he tries to look back.
The man dismissed all his hunches about what might have happened and rushed to their house which he wished he didn't. Colleagues followed him and keep on tapping his shoulder because there, lying, the lifeless body of his wife and daughter.
"Bro, collateral."
