MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is considering sainthood for Niña Ruiz Abad, an Ilocos Norte girl who died at age 13 and whose faith in God never wavered despite her illness.  The bishops said she could serve as a “good model of piety and fortitude” for today’s youth.

The Catholic Church has so far declared two Filipino saints – Lorenzo Ruiz, who died in 1637 and was canonized in 1987, and Pedro Calungsod, who died in 1672 and was canonized in 2012. Both Ruiz and Calungsod were martyred when the Philippines was still a colony of Spain, a time when sainthood meant writing theological classics, establishing a religious order, and getting killed for the faith.

CBCP also released a list of other Filipinos on the road to sainthood:

• –The Venerable Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, founder of the Religious of the Virgin Mary, who died in 1748 and after whom a Quezon City avenue was named.
• –The Venerable Alfredo Maria Obviar, the first bishop of Lucena City in Quezon province, who died in 1978.
• –Brother Richie Fernando, a 26-year-old Filipino Jesuit who died saving his Cambodian students in 1996.
• –Darwin Ramos, a 17-year-old boy with a genetic illness, who died in 2012 and is described by a priest as “deeply devoted to Jesus Christ despite suffering.”
• -Leni Robredo, considered the heir to Mother Theresa as a Living Saint, for her countless efforts to attend to the needs of the poorest of poor Filipinos (laylayan), in pursuit of her political ambitions.