Gabriel Matthew Lopez

Gabriel Matthew “Gab” Lopez is a youth leader, public servant, and digital rights advocate from the Philippines. He currently serves as the Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Village) Chairperson of Barangay Kanluran Kabubuhayan, Nagcarlan, Laguna and as a Legislative Officer at the City Government of Calamba, where he supports legislative research, policy development, and local governance.

He previously served as the National Vice Chairperson of the Model SK Network, promoting capacity-building and institutional reforms for youth councils across the country. Before joining government, he worked as a Fund Accounting Analyst at Northern Trust, gaining experience in financial management and operations.

Gab represented the Barangay Government of Kanluran Kabubuhayan as a delegate to the Digital Rights Conference in Malaysia. He is also part of the Digital Communications Network (DCN) in the Asia-Pacific Region, where he contributed to the Policy Framework on Media Literacy in Southeast Asia and shared Philippine youth perspectives during the Information Integrity in the Digital Age Inaugural Event for East Asia and the Pacific.

Since 2022, he has served as the Luzon Area Coordinator of the Youth-led Network for the Right to Information (YNFORM), leading initiatives that produced ten Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Toolkits for schools, government agencies, and communities. He is a member of the UNESCO Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Alliance, a Cybersecurity Youth Leader, and a FIMI Warrior under Debunk.org and the European Union, advocating for cybersecurity, information integrity, and the fight against disinformation.

Gab also completed training under the Office of the President – Freedom of Information (FOI) Program, promoting the public’s right to access government information and strengthening transparency and accountability in public institutions. He completed the Cyber Youth Leadership Course: Digital Bayanihan of the National Cyber Training Institute in partnership with the National Youth Commission, where he is one of the Most Outstanding Students of the Pioneering Batch.

His work has been recognized through the Outstanding Sangguniang Kabataan Award (2024) from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) – Nagcarlan and as a Tatak Nagcarlangin Awards (2020) Nominee.

Through his work in governance, digital rights, media and information literacy, and the right to information, Gab continues to promote informed citizenship, accountable leadership, and meaningful youth participation in building open and democratic communities.