VICE

This week on "Vice"...

Ryan heads to the Philippines,

where politicians are massacring each other.

Politicians here, they are just

lazy dogs that they just want easy money.

And I travel to Afghanistan...

Please show him your passport, please.

where the Taliban are adopting new

and horrific terror tactics.

Since they are children Mullahs have told them,

that when you blow the

bomb, you will survive.

The world is changing.

Now, no one knows where it's going,

but we'll be there uncovering the news...

That's World War III.

culture...

and politics

and expose the absurdity of the modern condition.

That little child has a huge gun.

This scene isn't really kosher

by American standards.

I was interviewing suicide bombers,

and they were kids.

This is the world through our eyes.

We win or we die!

This is the world of "Vice."

Hi. I'm Shane Smith, and we're here

in the "Vice" offices

in Brooklyn, New York, and for

our first story this week,

we go to the Philippines.

Now, not a lot of people know

that the Philippines actually borrowed our Constitution

when they were setting up their current political system,

which is great, except for the fact

that American politics has become highly contentious

and intensely partisan.

But in the Philippines, they're taking this

to a whole new level.

With more than 1,200 political assassinations

in the last decade alone,

the Philippines is one of the deadliest places on earth

for politicians.

So we sent Ryan Duffy

to follow one of the nation's most gunned-after candidates

as he registers for reelection.

Politicians here, they are just

lazy dogs that they just want easy money.

Lazy dogs who want money...

Yeah.

and have a lot of guns.

That seems like a recipe for disaster.

RYAN, VOICE-OVER: It's election season in the Philippines,

and for those bold enough to run for office,

that means guns, armed convoys,

and plenty of violence.

Now, the Philippines is already

the most dangerous place on earth

to run for political office because in a corrupt system,

politicians can amass huge amounts of wealth and power

if they hold top government positions.

So as a result, they arm themselves to the teeth

and build private militias

which, because of political infighting,

turn the country's provinces into full-on war zones.

In November of 2009, Vice Mayor Mangudadatu

sent a convoy of friends, family, and followers

to file his papers to run for governor.

Just down there, beyond this road,

they were headed off at the pass and brought up here,

where all 57 of them were executed

and buried together in a mass grave.

Among those killed were the governor's wife,

his two sisters, and dozens of journalists.

When the police raided the property of the Ampatuans,

a rival political clan they believed to be responsible

for the massacre, they found thousands upon thousands

of guns, enough to build their own private army.

It brings to mind the brutality of warring Mexican narco-gangs,

except that these guys aren't running drugs.

They're supposed to be running the country,

and now, just 3 years after the massacre,

it's election season again,

and Governor Mangudadatu, the same guy whose friends,

family, and supporters were slaughtered,

is running for reelection.

How big is the convoy we're traveling in today?

I think more or less, 50 cars.

Ryan: 15?

Fifty.

Fifty?

Yeah, 5-0. 5-0.

Really?

That's your own private traffic jam.

That's a lot of cars, man.

RYAN, VOICE-OVER: There was all kinds of security

around the governor because in a couple of days,

he'd be filing the papers

that would make his campaign official,

which was the very thing his friends and family

were trying to do when they were murdered.

That's the very darkest moment

in my life.

The pain that came into my heart,

and to my family.

How nervous are you, just every day, traveling?

Because if I'll tell you the truth,

I'm a little nervous traveling with you.

And I might move cars when we stop.

Don't worry, it's bulletproof.

Oh, it's bulletproof. Thank God.

I mean, do you think of it in the back of your mind,

or you just can't?

No.

Yeah. And what city are we in right now?

This is Tacurong City.

Was there an attack on one of your convoys

here not too long ago, or last year?

Yeah, yeah...

There was.

Last year, August 15th,

it was my birthday.

On your birthday?

One of my board members,

and other civilian convoys,

were fatally wounded.

And it was a political rival?

Yeah, a political rival.

And how do so many of these different clans

have so many weapons?

There are lots of loose firearms

here in the Philippines.

I've noticed that, too.

Everyone has a gun, man.

Yeah.

There are guns everywhere.

RYAN, VOICE-OVER: Guns are a huge part

of Filipino culture, and just like in the U.S.,

they're historically associated with the fight for independence.

But with gun ownership as high as 70% in some areas

and the highest homicide rates in all of Asia,

the Philippines is taking gun lust to the next level.

If you didn't think that the Philippines loved their guns,

they named a machine gun after the president.

Can you imagine if I was holding a Barack Obama right now?

RYAN, VOICE-OVER: So in a country where the gun

has become an accepted method of political communication,

it's no surprise that so many Filipinos

are anxious to get their hands on one.

And when you've got assassination and mayhem in mind,

you don't really want a licensed model off of the assembly line.

You want one of the untraceable weapons being crafted

by an underground network of backyard gunsmiths.

Nice to meet you.

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It just looks like a lot of old scrap metal

and discarded items that shouldn't be able to make a gun.

_

Look at that.

That makes a gun.

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RYAN, VOICE-OVER: In an effort to reduce political assassinations

during election season, the government has issued

a 150-day ban on carrying any firearms during this period.

However, one group that's openly flaunting this ban

is the BIFM, an Islamic jihadist group that's fighting to secede

from the rest of the Philippines--

a group, incidentally, that Governor Mangudadatu

has recently targeted by offering large bounties

for the capture of their top leadership.

These three Barretts were recovered

and it is a locally made Barrett by the terrorists.

The BIFM are terrorists?

Yeah, they are terrorists.

RYAN, VOICE-OVER: We'd heard plenty about the BIFM,

and using homemade weapons was actually just the start.

Far more disturbing was who eventually fired those guns.

How young are the kids they're training?

Starting from 18 and below.

Until 10 or 8.

So basically once you're 10, 11 years old,

you're in military training.

Yes. They have so many satellite camps.

It's not easy to go there,

but if you want, at your own risk

you can go.

No, thanks.

RYAN, VOICE-OVER: But of course that's exactly what we did.

What we saw when we got there was shocking.

The army seemed to be made up primarily of kids,

with the odd grandfatherly general leading the way.

Hello. Good afternoon.