Nina Ruiz Abad

Niña Ruiz Abad was born October 31, 1979, in Quezon City, the Philippines to a lawyer couple from Sarrat, but her father died when she was three years old and had one sister. She attended nursery and kindergarten in Diliman, Quezon City. In 1988, her family transferred to Sarrat, where her mother, Corazon Ruiz Abad, a lawyer, became the chief hearing officer of the Commission on the Settlement of Land Problems of the Department of Justice. She completed her elementary education as a top student. She attended high school at the Mariano Marcos State University High School and, one year later, at the School of the Holy Spirit in Quezon City.

She was described as having "a strong devotion to the Eucharist and devoted her life to distributing rosaries, Bibles, prayer books, holy images, and other religious items". Because of her strong Catholic faith, which she earned from her pious mother, she became an inspiration to numerous people. Bishop Mayugba emphasized Abad's popularity for her faith, saying "If one asks, 'Do you know Niña Ruiz Abad?' The answer would be, 'That's the girl who always wore a rosary. The girl who loved to pray. The girl who loves God so much'."

In 1989, Niña was diagnosed with a serious heart ailment. On August 16, 1993, she had a heart attack while at school. She was rushed immediately to the hospital where she eventually died. Her remains were buried in Sarrat Public Cemetery, and in 2024, her remains were exhumed and transferred to the baptistery at Santa Monica Church in Sarrat.

Three decades after her death, Bishop Renato Mayugba initiated the opening of the beatification process for Abad noting that she could serve as a "good model of piety and fortitude" for modern Filipino youth. On April 7, 2024, Mayugba with the postulator, Dennis Duene Ruíz, OAD, led the opening session of the diocesan tribunal's official and public inquiry, at Laoag Cathedral on the beatification process. Niña's mother, sister, cousin broadcast journalist Jay Ruiz, relatives and God First Association members witnessed the "video re-enactment of Abad's life and the unveiling of her official portrait.