J Watford
- Jul 27, 2019
- 1 min read

Althea

If you recently heard about the youngest victim of the drug war in the Philippines, three-year-old Myca, please let me remind you that the Duterte government has been killing children from the very beginning of its bloody campaign against the poor.

Four-year-old Althea was the apple of her father's eye. That night in August 2016, she and her father Alrick were on their way to the park. Althea managed to sweet-talk her grandparents into giving her money for popcorn, and she clutched the 20-peso bill as she sat at the front of her father's motorbike.

Here's what the police said: Alrick took his daughter to sell drugs to men who turned out to be undercover cops. They said Alrick pulled out a gun, so they shot him, then he tried to get away and they shot him again. They said they didn't notice that his little girl was with him when they shot him in the back.

Here's what the Commission on Human Rights said: Two policemen aboard a motorcycle fired at Alrick and Althea. Alrick tried to get away but was shot again. There were witnesses, but many were told they would be killed if they testified against the cops, so they kept silent.

Here's the undisputed fact: Alrick died that night from a bullet to his chest, the same bullet that shattered Althea's spinal column and led to her death two days later.

Here's what Althea's grandparents know: She was the apple of her father's eye, and he would never ever knowingly put her life in danger.

Althea wanted to be a cop when she grew up.

Sources:

Those We Lost

Those who were not, but could have been

Althea

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