Anti-Marcos student joins Time’s ‘most influential teens’ list

MANILA, Philippines — A 14-year-old student who led her classmates in protesting the burial of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani last year has been named one of TIME Magazine’s most influential teenagers worldwide.

Grade 9 student Shibby de Guzman of St. Scholastica’s College joined fellow Filipino Bretman Rock and celebrities like Shawn Mendez, Jaden Smith and Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown in the list of teens who made a “global impact through social media” and drive news in the past year.

De Guzman was recognized for shutting down critics who alleged that the youth are being brainwashed to join in protests against the dictator.

“Hello. I am the girl in the picture with megaphone,” she wrote as a comment in the now iconic image of her leading her classmates in the protest. “Please do not underestimate the youth. We completely know and understand the injustice we are protesting against.”

In her TIME photo, De Guzman was shown wearing the same cardboard sign with the phrase, “Lahat tayo posibleng drug pusher,” apparently in reference to the alleged culture of violence tied to the present administration’s war against illegal drugs.

“It’s so important that (they) know their own rights and when authorities abuse them…There are values that aren’t up for debate,” De Guzman was quoted in the TIME article.

Rock, a beauty vlogger based in Hawaii, is known for his make-up skills that gained him a following of almost nine million on photo sharing application Instagram.

He also hosted the Miss Universe red-carpet preshow earlier this year.

Other teens in the list include Saudi Arabian Rayouf Alhumedhi, who proposed to Apple the inclusion of a female emoji with a headscarf, and German soccer prodigy Christian Pulisic.