Why Time picked 2 Pinoys to be on its list of influential teens
Shibby de Guzman, 14/Screen shot from Time website
Two Filipinos, a high school student protester and a Hawaii-based video blogger, are among Time Magazine’s “30 Most Influential Teens of 2017.”
Young activist Shibby de Guzman, 14, and online sensation Bretman Rock are named in Time’s list, which is determined by “accolades across numerous fields, global impact through social media and overall ability to drive news.”
De Guzman, now a ninth-grade student in St. Scholastica’s College Manila, rose to prominence after her photo holding a microphone and wearing a placard “Lahat tayo pwede maging drug pusher” (We can all be tagged as drug pushers) went viral on social media.
She was part of the thousands of protesters who condemned the surreptitious burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani last year.
“She carried a megaphone and wore a cardboard sign similar to those sometimes strewn over the bodies of drug-war victims. Then, in a widely shared social-media post, she shut down critics who alleged that her fellow protesters were ‘brainwashed,’: ‘We completely know and understand the injustice we are protesting against,’” the magazine said.
Time said De Guzman hoped to rally even more young people to take action in the country.
“It’s so important that [they] know their own rights and when authorities abuse them,” she told Time.
“There are values that aren’t up for debate.”
Aside from De Guzman, Rock, born as Bretman Rock Sacayanan, also made it on the list.
Time said Rock’s fab makeup skills “could give the Kardashians a run for their money.”
“There is nobody on the Internet more fabulous than Rock. Just ask him. The Hawaii-based Filipino beauty vlogger shot to fame for demonstrating makeup skills—fierce contouring, flawless eyebrows—that could give the Kardashians a run for their money,” Time said.
But the real reason Rock has racked up nearly 9 million Instagram followers, Time said, “is his larger-than-life personality, best seen in the musings he posts alongside his glam how-tos.”
“Among his favorite topics: his haters (“This nose can be fixed with contour … but your attitude and personality can’t”), his appearance (“I’m, like, really cute”) and his friends and family (“Don’t forget to appreciate everyone you have in your life … not everyone is blessed to have them like you do”),” Time wrote.
Earlier this year, Rock hosted the Miss Universe red-carpet preshow and in September, he kicked off a national tour to meet his biggest fans.
“I think the universe is taking quite good care of [me],” Rock told Time.
