Shibby de Guzman

Shibby Lapeña de Guzman (born c. ) is a Filipina youth activist. She is best known for her protests against the burial of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and against extrajudicial killings amid the anti-drug campaign of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. She was named as one of the thirty most influential teenagers of 2017 by Time magazine.

Biography Shibby de Guzman was born in the early 2000s. At age 13, she started her activism with the consent of her mother, Melay Lapeña. When participating in protests, she is usually seen wearing a cardboard with a Tagalog text saying "Lahat tayo posibleng drug pusher" (We can all possibly be drug pushers). Aside from being an activist, she is a member of a club for the arts at her school. During the protests, her school journal, The Benildean, photographed her holding a megaphone along with her schoolmates and when the picture was posted on social media, it went viral. At that time, she was just a thirteen year old ninth-grader and many criticized her and the other youthful protesters for being too young in joining a political rally and for being brainwashed and abused by her school. Mocha Uson, a Filipina celebrity and staunch supporter of Duterte, said in a Facebook post that it is unnecessary to include children in protests and they can be patriotic when they are taught about history in school. De Guzman countered that they, the young protesters, fully understand what they protesting against. This time, she objected the extrajudicial killings occurring amid the campaign of President Duterte against illegal drugs and protested against the violation of civil liberties. She made a speech during the protests and said that they stand against the supposed authoritarianism and emerging dictatorship.

Recognition In 2017, de Guzman was listed by Time magazine as one of thirty most influential teenagers. De Guzman downplayed the recognition and said that there are other people who deserve the accolade more. SSC vice principal Jonna Lim also commented on the recognition and said that de Guzman served as a reminder to everyone in educating the youth on social justice.